Just whenever you thought the Mexican soccer group could not sink any decrease, El Tri takes out a shovel and digs a tunnel a bit of deeper.
The newest excavation mission occurred on Wednesday, when Mexico dug itself a gap it could by no means climb out of in an embarrassing 1-0 Copa America loss to Venezuela earlier than a disillusioned pro-Mexican crowd of 72,773 at SoFi Stadium. Drawn into a bunch with Jamaica, Ecuador and Venezuela, none of that are ranked on the planet’s prime 30, the naked minimal — the minimal — The goal that Mexico needed to obtain within the match was to complete among the many prime two and entry the knockout stage.
With Wednesday’s loss, Mexico might not be capable of clear even that low threshold. If they do not win Sunday’s last towards Ecuador, El Tri’s Copa América is over. Venezuela, in the meantime, advances to the subsequent spherical.
“The scenario is evident. We need to win the subsequent recreation,” mentioned midfielder Luis Romo. “It’s a knockout recreation.”
With the World Cup returning to Mexico in lower than two years, the nationwide group’s schedule is in tatters and the panic within the nation’s soccer federation is actual. It took years of neglect and mismanagement in any respect ranges of Mexican soccer for the nationwide group to sink to this degree, so it is unrealistic to suppose issues could be mounted in 23 months.
But that is all Mexico has left earlier than the World Cup begins in Mexico City.
The decline started six years in the past in Russia, the place the common age of the Mexican group was a number of months beneath 30, making them the second-oldest group within the World Cup. Mexico beat defending champion Germany of their opening recreation, then limped into the spherical of 16, the place they misplaced to Brazil. But the group’s promised post-tournament rejuvenation by no means materialized, so when Mexico went to Qatar 4 years later, they as soon as once more had the second-oldest group within the World Cup.
And this time he was blitzed, beating solely Saudi Arabia on his approach to his quickest World Cup exit in 44 years. Two years later, he nonetheless hasn’t recovered, and Mexico’s long-awaited youth motion is nowhere to be discovered.
If nothing else, he retired.
Mexico’s U-23 group, which received a bronze medal on the final Olympics, didn’t even qualify for this summer season’s Paris Games. Mexico additionally didn’t qualify for final yr’s U-20 World Cup and received simply as soon as in 4 video games within the U-17 match. (The girls’s group, in the meantime, hasn’t performed in a World Cup since 2015 or an Olympic match since 2004. The collapse has been shockingly full.)
The expertise pool that after fueled the Mexican nationwide group has dried up. So when 38-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and backup goalkeeper Luis Malagón have been dominated out of the Copa América with accidents, coach Jaime Lozano (extra on him in a minute) didn’t have a goalkeeper with greater than six worldwide video games to name up.
Mexico coach Jaime Lozano talks with Gerardo Arteaga throughout Wednesday’s Copa America match towards Venezuela at SoFi Stadium.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
When forwards Hirving Lozano and the often-injured Raúl Jiménez have been dominated out of the Copa, Mexico fielded Colombian Julián Quiñones, who made his first look for Mexico final fall, a month after turning into a Mexican citizen. On Wednesday, the impatient Quiñones dedicated the foul that arrange Salomón Rondón’s successful penalty.
Not solely is the cavalry not coming, it does not even exist. The depth that after made the Mexican nationwide group one of many strongest in America has vanished and now El Tri is shedding to Venezuela, the one South American nation by no means to have performed in a World Cup.
And it isn’t simply the defeat to Venezuela, as Mexico has misplaced 4 of its final six video games, failing to attain in three of these 4 defeats. And it has received simply half of its 20 video games beneath Lozano.
If Mexico fails to beat Ecuador and withdraws from the Copa America after three video games, the federation is probably going to make use of the coach, their third in 18 months, as a scapegoat. But it’s troublesome to see how that is Lozano’s fault. He can solely subject the gamers the federation offers him, and people gamers aren’t superb proper now.
Maybe you may blame it on the Curse of Chicharito. Tata Martino banned Javier Hernández, Mexico’s all-time main scorer, from the nationwide group 14 months after the 2018 World Cup, and simply hours after he scored the primary objective in a 3-0 win over the United States.
Since then, Mexico has received only one trophy, didn’t beat the United States in seven makes an attempt, exited the World Cup sooner than anticipated in additional than 4 a long time, didn’t qualify for the Olympics for the primary time in 16 years, and exited the Copa América after simply two video games.
OK, possibly it isn’t a foolproof principle. But as an evidence, the Curse of Chicharito might be nearly as good as any.
What is evident, nonetheless, is that Mexico has fallen and can’t rise once more. The nationwide program is within the worst form in a long time and the federation has no roadmap to get it again on observe.
A win on Sunday might save each Mexico’s Copa América and Lozano’s job, a minimum of for now. But it’s unlikely to unravel the deeper issues, and with the World Cup quick approaching, there seems to be treasured little time for the federation to finish the huge overhaul El Tri wants.
Maybe they need to simply deliver Chicharito again. It could not damage.
