Mexico National Team — Is it different not to look for the quarterfinals anymore, to be in the top 8?
By: Alfonso R. Sosa
Tags: Football, Sports, Soccer, International Football, Mexico National Team

Photo by Jorge Aguilar on Unsplash

Another year, another coach, one more term, another group, another team, one more World Cup.

It seems at first glance that it will be the same as every year, that the history of the Mexican Team, El Tri, will repeat itself:

To reach the second phase in the World Cup, in the round of the best sixteen.

And with this confirming the history of national soccer, that the Mexico National Team has potential for more, but in the end, it ends up disappointing the fans and not meeting the expectations.

With no appreciation that other national teams would like to have the record that the Mexican Team has, of reaching seven World Cups in a row the round of 16, being the first place in their group on several occasions.

The achievement is worthy of mention.

Though, how about going for more? What about improving? What should be advanced?

Let me analyze a couple of things to see the difference between going to the fifth game and being in the top 8.

Set a goal, and make it public

The Football Federation sports director, Gerardo Torrado, together with the Mexican National Team manager, Gerardo el Tata Martino, expressed this goal of being among the eight best teams in the world.

I do not remember seeing that before. In previous terms, coaches announced to pass to the fifth game in the World Cup, and that was it.

I do not recall another coach who was as focused on goals as this one.

And at the same time, to not throwing lies or fantasy dreams like promising to reach the final or win the World Cup without enough talent and work to back it up.

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Goal setting is essential in any sport. Yes, there were goals in past terms, but they were very general, mediocre, or unattainable, and it was not much clarity on where to go, much less work to achieve it.

Plus, the Mexican National Team objectives were not public, other than going to the World Cup and reaching the quarterfinals.

That thing of reaching the fifth game always sounded mediocre to me.

Our goals must be achievable, but at the same time, they should inspire us to go beyond the limits. They should motivate us to endeavor.

Goals should accompany short and medium-term objectives.

During a press conference, Martino said,

“we want to play against the best teams in the world as many times as we can…What interests us the most is that our team shows a sense of knowing how to play, that our idea of playing is clear. If we achieve that, the objective may be closer.”

So staying among the top 8 teams throughout his leadership, I think, is quite achievable, prudent too, but at the same time motivating.

Because who is now in the top 8?

Below is the latest FIFA rankings.

Transfermarket list

If we check the FIFA rankings of the last ten years, we would see that Belgium, France, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Colombia, Uruguay, Italy, and the Netherlands have been a constant.

Sure, some of them have even come out of the top 10 as Germany, Colombia, and the Netherlands right now.

There is more to say about how FIFA makes this ranking, but it will be another time.

The point is, these teams have consistently remained within the top 10 of the FIFA rankings for the last ten years or more.

Plus, offering positive results continuously in official FIFA date games, friendly games, during qualifying round games, official tournaments, and of course, World Cup after World Cup.

The Mexican National Team has been in and out of that top 10 list on several occasions.

So having this goal of being in the top 8 implies remaining year after year, playing at that level during this term.

A sign that will be long-term preparation, continuity, having clear objectives, looking for a way to achieve them, not backing down, and not giving up.

The proper person

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A trait of Tata Martino is his honesty. He has generated controversy when speaking about the harsh truth of the Mexican National Team football-playing level.

Because let us be honest, no one likes to hear the truth. We believe this lie of being an elite team, of deserving the World Cup, even if we have not done anything to achieve it.

So Tata comes to open our eyes and shows us the reality of what Mexican soccer is.

By knowing such truth, the players can become clear where to start, where they want to go, and where they have to go.

The transparency with both the players, the coaching staff, the Football Federation, and the press, makes us trust him.

It makes us believe that he knows what he is doing.

Martino is also a down to earth man. He knows where he stands, where his team leads, what he should work with with the Mexican Team, and how to achieve it.

A team cannot win just for the players. It is essential to have a great leader on and off the field.

Javier Aguirre and Gerardo Torrado, among other Mexican soccer figures, confessed that they were not wrong in choosing Martino.

He is the right person to lead the Mexican National Team.

Knowing the weaknesses

Among all this, Martino knows in detail the Mexican National Team vulnerabilities throughout its competition history, together with its current weaknesses.

Martino understands Mexico National Team history during World Cups, why the team has reached the round of 16 for seven World Cups in a row, and why the team does not pass from there.

On several occasions, the Mexican Team has had control in decisive matches during the World Cup, but in the end, it ends up losing it.

It has been the story of the Mexican National Team.

Martino interprets it specifically as loosening up the last 15 minutes of the game to the point of failing the decisive games during that period.

We can compare it to the NFL and the two-minute drill.

It is a drill practiced to learn to be under pressure for the game to end and learning to control the last two minutes, to know how to close the game with intelligence, control, temper, and speed, achieving victory.

So Martino aims to improve those 15 minutes before the end of each match, and he showed it in the last 2020 four friendly games.

Against the Netherlands, Mexico resisted the attacks during that time. Although in an interview with TUDN, Martino highlighted that Mexico lacked possession of the ball in the last 15 minutes. Mexico triumphed 1–0 against the Netherlands and most of its starters.

With the African Champion, Algeria, they remained calm at that stage despite going down on the scoreboard. Nevertheless, they took advantage of the opportunities, and the tying goal fell within those final 15 minutes, with the assist of Raúl Jiménez to Diego Lainez.

Against South Korea, Mexico scored three goals that fell during the last 30 minutes of the match. In the end, there was an error in the small area from Mexico, and Korea scored its second goal, but they could not do more, winning Mexico 3–2.

And with Japan, they practically controlled the entire second half of the match, falling both goals in the last 30 minutes and finishing 2–0 in favor of Mexico.

Martino stressed that the first 20 minutes of the game against Japan had been the worst in his management so far.

Breaking the mentality barrier

Martino is dealing with the mentality of the Mexican soccer player too.

The mentality that stops them from advancing as a team and obtaining better results. The underlying root that has made them waste opportunities and be defeated.

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Tata declared that the Mexican team grows in inferiority against the top teams and lives of those victories, such as beating Germany in the group stage but loses to Sweden for the first place in the group during Russia 2018.

Martino declared at a press conference in August of 2019,

“that is the barrier that we have to finish breaking… what we should do to be reliable when we carry the burden of the match…” the Mexico National Team manager continued.

Perhaps we will not see this breaking until Qatar 2022 happens.

However, Tata has been mapping that path since his arrival. We look forward to witnessing it in Qatar.

The environment and the entourage

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I believe too the Mexican football scene is going through an outstanding period. It has a journey of developing and supporting the junior teams in the Liga MX and the Junior National Teams, created the women Liga MX, restructured the promotion league, and a new football league through the Liga de Balompie Mexicano came.

This environment produces more quality players at a young age, and rigorous competition generates more experienced players.

Besides, the generations of former National Team players who in the last decades had World Cup experiences of passing through the group stage, players that participated in international tournaments with clubs and the Mexican National Team, are now at the forefront in the Liga MX teams, or with the Football Federation.

Former players such as Javier Aguirre, Nacho Ambriz, Miguel Herrera, Ricardo Pelaez, Luis Miguel Salvador, Dulio Davino, Jaime Lozano, Raúl Gutierrez or Gerardo Torrado are active in La Liga MX clubs and the Football Federation as coaches or executives.

On the other hand, Luis García, Jorge Campos, Carlos Hermosillo, Jared Borgetti, Hugo Sanchez, Alberto Garcia Aspe, Oswaldo Sanchez, Ricardo Osorio among others entered as sports commentators.

That is a large group of former players of the Mexican National Team who know what it means to belong to it, what it takes to stay at the highest level, who know the challenges they face along the way, and are now leaders in the soccer environment, off the field.

This group of former players has a clearer vision to focus on the sport to counteract the balance and support the Mexico National Team when the owners and executives have a more commercial inclination.

The group

Lastly, this brood of national team players that Martino has been blending is a successful bunch. Some of them won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, have won titles in Liga MX, and those who immigrated to Europe have also won titles becoming idols in their clubs.

The foundation of this group of players, mostly those playing in Europe, prevails playing at the highest level for the last years.

And those who continue playing in the Liga MX maintain a level worthy of being valued by European teams, several of them in their early twenties, and still some others in line waiting eagerly to join the Mexico National Team.

Therefore, although few are playing at the European level, they are the largest group that the Mexican Team has had playing in leagues such as Seria A, the Premier League, Eredivisie, or La Liga in Spain.

Conclusion

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It is attainable to be in the top 8 of national teams year after year, according to the FIFA rankings and the results at par.

It is not just reaching the fifth game, the quarterfinal round in a World Cup.

But to prove with results in official matches and official tournaments, the Mexico National Team belongs to the top 8 soccer teams.

And if it were even more motivating, for the 2026 World Cup, the Mexico National Team could be among the top four teams with the kind of preparation they are doing. That should be aiming.

They will have to work for it steady. This management can do it. It has enough time to accomplish it.

With this generation of players in the National Team and with this coach, it is possible.