Five months before Qatar 2022, the Mexican soccer team is walking on quicksand, hoping that the same thing happened in the last seven World Cups and they qualified for the round of 16.
Mexico finished second in World Cup qualifying behind Canada and ahead of the United States, but the team was beaten by both rivals and questioned the giant status of Concacaf, which most Mexicans believe.
The games after the regional tournament did not improve the image of the team or that of the Argentine coach Gerardo Martino, whose head some media are asking for, after the 0-3 win against Uruguay and draws with Jamaica, 64 in the world, and Guatemala, 141 in the FIFA ranking.
It is true that Martino is plagued with half-truths when referring to his losses to the United States. One happened in extremely icy conditions and the other two were draws that Mexico lost in extra time or penalties, something that his critics hide.
It is also true that the team generates many arrivals in the area and only lacks aim, which does not depend on the coach, and that he has time to join a group that, according to statements from the dressing room outside, supports him. But that doesn’t dispel the clouds of mistrust among fans.
In Qatar, Mexico will play group C. They will debut on November 22 against Poland, they will face Argentina on the 26th and Saudi Arabia on the 30th. According to predictions, it will be this first match that can mark their future, since, logically, they should lose to the Argentines and beat the Saudis.
«There are five months ahead and the start of the seasons in different countries. Nothing guarantees that as it is today, it will be at the end of the year; there is a lot of ground to cover,” Martino said this month, confident that Argentina will lose its rhythm, Mexico will get back on track and Poland will continue with ups and downs.
The good news for “Tata” is that since 1994, when he returned to the World Cups, Mexico almost always broke out in a cold sweat before playing the Cup and entered the top 16 phase seven times, something that only Brazil did.
With a good combination of youngsters and veterans and several figures involved in European football, the Argentine will bet on getting the team into rhythm, which will depend on how the main figures of the tri start the 2022-2023 season with their teams.
Mexico does not score goals, largely due to gross mistakes in the box by Raúl Jiménez, from Wolverhampton in the Premier League; Jesús Manuel Corona, from Spanish Sevilla; and Hirving Lozano, from Napoli in Italy. If they get their aim back, things could change.
Martino has a pending talk with Javier Hernández, from the Los Angeles Galaxy, top scorer of the tri, vetoed by the coach. If they iron out rough edges, “Chicharito will strengthen the attack of a team that has the talent of the wingers Diego Laínez, from Betis; Alexis Vega (Guadalajara); and Uriel Antuna (Blue Cross); and center forwards Henry Martín (America) and Santiago Giménez (Cruz Azul).
The goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (América) and the midfielders Andrés Guardado (Betis), and Héctor Herrera, until a few days ago an Atlético de Madrid player, will lead a group with high-level figures, such as midfielders Édson Álvarez (Ajax) and Carlos Rodríguez and defenders Néstor Araujo and Gerardo Arteaga, among others.
So far this year, when he walked through the sand, Mexico’s feet sank. Optimistic as he is, Martino celebrates that it has been like this so that when the tri reaches the desert he will be used to the bad life and can survive in the dunes of Qatar. EFE
