Do you remember when the Mexican national team was strong? It's certainly been a while.
The latest implosion occurred Sunday night in a 2-0 loss to the United States in the CONCACAF Nations League finals in Arlington, Texas. And with that, the meltdown was complete, both on and off the field.
On the field, Mexico had just two shots on goal and lost to the United States in the last four of the Nations League for the third year in a row. With this win, the United States now has an undefeated record of seven consecutive matches against El Tri (5 wins, 0 losses, 2 draws). In five of the last six games, Mexico hasn't even scored.
Remember when America and Mexico were rivals? It's been a long time since then.
The Mexican national team program is probably at its lowest point in decades. El Tri were eliminated in the group stage at the last World Cup for the first time in 44 years, but have won only one trophy since 2019, last summer's Gold Cup, missing out on qualifying for this summer's Olympics and making their first tournament appearance. Missed. Since 2008.
The team has changed three managers in 15 months, but El Tri may soon have a new managerial change as they have only won three of their last nine games under current manager Jaime Lozano. .
This decline did not happen overnight, nor will it be resolved overnight. But with just over two years left until the 2026 World Cup, which Mexico will open at home, time is running out.
Mexico's national team has been aging in recent years, having had the second-oldest squad at the past two World Cups. One reason for this is that the pipeline that had long supplied the national team with talent has dried up. Guillermo Ochoa, who started Sunday, made his national team debut during the George W. Bush era before Gio Reyna, who scored Sunday's goal against Ochoa, reached preschool age.
However, Lozano has only called up one keeper with at least four international caps in the past 12 months.
Age is not the only thing that separates the United States and Mexico. Of the 23 players called up to the U.S. team this month, 21 have played in Europe, many of whom have been there since they were teenagers, while 13 of the 23 players on the Mexican squad play domestically in Liga MX. is playing.
And they're not even the best players in the league, as 14 of Liga MX's top 19 scorers and four of its five top goaltenders were born outside Mexico.
That's a problem.
When asked how the United States has distanced itself from Mexico, Lozano said, “The timing of sending players to clubs in Europe makes a difference.'' “They're in a very good league today, competing in different leagues.” [kinds of] We play games every week. ”
One of those players, Reyna, became the youngest American to play in the German Bundesliga at the age of 17, and at 21 he has already made 125 appearances in all competitions in Europe.
Less than a year ago, U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter's future with the national team was in deep doubt, largely due to an altercation involving Reina and her parents that erupted during the World Cup. In the Nations League, Reyna made two saves for Berhalter, assisted on two goals in overtime to defeat Jamaica in the semifinals, and in the final, a late goal put the final nail in Mexico's coffin.
Off the field, Mexican fans were even worse, throwing beer and other trash at American players after Reina's 63rd-minute goal. United States captain Christian Pulisic said he had beer thrown at him before the game started.
During the first Nations League final of 2021, Reina was celebrating Pulisic's winning goal in extra time when he was hit by a bottle thrown from the stands, requiring medical treatment. The game in Denver was postponed twice by officials after fans in the pro-Mexican crowd shouted anti-gay slurs at a U.S. goal kick. Last year's tournament semifinal, which the U.S. won 3-0, was interrupted twice by chants, as was Sunday's game, which broke out between supporters of both teams on the second deck of the stadium.
CONCACAF clutches its pearls and strikes back again with a toothless statement that “condemns the discriminatory chants” and “continues to call on fans to respect opposing teams and support their teams in a positive manner.” did.
of course. That should be enough.
What CONCACAF did not say, at least publicly, was to impose any penalties, but no penalty is likely to make a difference as long as the shameless Mexican Football Federation continues to ignore and deflect the problem. do not have.
When Mexico was sanctioned by FIFA for an incident during two matches at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the federation appealed a minor fine of $114,000. And it wasn't the first time Mexico had been penalized for chanting. The incidents occurred during the 2018 and 2022 World Cup qualifiers and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualification, resulting in the federation being fined and fans banned from the games.
Mexican soccer is at a crossroads. On the field, we need to desperately invest in youth development at home while sending our top players overseas. Off the field, we need to accept responsibility for the actions of our supporters and work with CONCACAF and FIFA to encourage them to teach football like a game, not a gladiatorial match.
Only then will the United States and Mexico become rivals again.
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