Amidst a wave of criticism for their defeat in Mexico’s last World Cup preparation match, Argentina coach Gerardo Martino and his players have decided to observe a vow of silence in Qatar.
The atmosphere of pessimism among Mexicans ahead of the World Cup is familiar with Colombian coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who arrived at Russia 2018 four years ago, heavily criticized for losing to Denmark at the end of preparations.
“Mexico is a very football country, a very emotional race like most of us Latinos,” said Osorio, a World Cup analyst for ESPN. “Rash, aggressive, non-violent, risky and volatile opinion is a faithful reflection of who we are as a society.”
The Mexicans worked out behind closed doors on Sunday and for the third day in a row no one from the squad wanted to make a statement ahead of the game against Poland, the start of the tri-series at the World Cup.
Martino appeared for the last time in a 2-1 loss against the Swedes at Girona last Wednesday. Not even the Televisa network, which owns the Mexican team’s broadcast rights, has managed to make any statement to the coach.
“Tata” has been strongly criticized by the Mexican press for the poor move of the team that has seen its performance decline in the past year and a half. Former players like Hugo Sanchez have been harsh in their criticism of the coach.
“I understand the responsibility, I think sometimes it is too much, especially for the group’s manager, but we know that whoever has the honor of leading the Mexican team, that race And that takes an extreme commitment to Mexican culture and you have to accept it and face it, Osorio said.
During his four years in charge of the Mexican team, the Colombian strategist was particularly criticized for his frequent rotation of players, but the team’s progress in the tie was distinguishable.
Osorio led the Mexicans to first place in the Final Hexagonal and beat the United States in their backyard for the first time in 44 years. Instead, Martino managed three losses against the Americans, the Mexicans’ hated rivals, including the Nations League and Gold Cup finals and CONCACAF qualifying.
At the World Cup in Russia, Mexico defeated Germany in their first game, then did the same against South Korea, but lost to Sweden to take the group lead. They met Brazil in the round of 16 and lost 2–0.
“After defeating Germany and Korea, my biggest mistake was taking so much risk against Sweden, I should have been more practical and tolerated the result and they could have passed earlier,” recalled Osorio. “Let’s hope that’s the case for Mexico now going into the fifth game.”
Mexico is obsessed with reaching the quarter-finals of a World Cup for the first time since hosting in 1970 and 1986.
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A lack of goals and injuries to key players such as Jesús Corona, who missed the World Cup, and Raúl Jimenez, who is still among the cottons, have made it difficult for the Mexicans to keep alive their streak of reaching the second round of World Cups all the time. complicates the approach. In which he has participated since 1986.
The last time a Mexican team stopped in the group stage was Argentina in 1978.
Osorio said, “Pressure is the sum of expectations and in Mexico those expectations are very high, maybe now the public will see everything in a negative light and on game day they will expect the best from the team.” “But for now a public inquiry is inevitable.”
And Martino is living it in his body.
