Mexican National Team in 2023
A Year in Review
Hello crisis, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
To paraphrase Simon & Garfunkel, there is a darkness in Mexican football that is never far away with a potential crisis always just waiting around the corner.
The national team entered 2023 in a state of flux, the seemingly inevitable failure of Qatar 2022 was fully realised to be followed by the equally predictable departure of Tata Martino. In process that was neither clear nor convincing Diego Cocca, the Argentine miracles worker at Atlas, left his new job at Tigres to take the helm of El Tri. In hindsight, that proved to be a disastrous personal decision for him, as he would be unceremoniously fired after a horrendous defeat to the USA in the CONCACAF Nations League in June, whilst in the meantime his replacement, Uruguayan Robert Siboldi had taken Tigres to the title.
As a stopgap measure, Jaime ‘Jimmy’ Lozano was drafted in to see the national side through the Gold Cup, which Mexico eventually won. This success had the effect of buying Lozano more time though doubts remain he will still be there by the time the 2026 World Cup starts. Concerns were not allayed much after the chaotic nature of qualification to the 2024 Copa America, needing penalties to get past Honduras over two legs.
The Mexican team, like so many of their counterparts does not live in a vacuum. The feelings and vibes surrounding the team is not just based on the results it achieves. Much is also dependent on the wider environment and the ecosystem that is Mexican football. Outside events can affect the overall perception of the team. There is still considerable negativity surrounding the national team following the Tata Martino years where many fans felt distanced from the side. Whilst Jimmy has had some success there remains residual pessimism and cynicism when it comes to the team and the federation. The lack of success and controversies related to the women’s teams and youth selections only added to the sensation that there is something very corrupt and wrong within the halls of power of Mexican football.
The background was gloomy as Mexico was losing to Honduras in the first leg in Tegucigalpa as the u-23 side had a less than satisfactory participation in the Pan-American Games in Chile, the u-17 men’s team suffered a heavy defeat in the World Cup and a u-18 side lost a friendly to their English counterparts 7-1. This precipitated a crisis mentality amongst the press as it confirmed for them that youth development is rotten. Through no fault of his own, Julian Quiñones also contributed to this sensation. For a while now he had stated his desire to play for Mexico, in fact, it was said he had turned down a callup from Colombia such was his commitment to the Mexican cause. This, however, initiated a conversation about whether naturalized players should be allowed, and if so, speculation began of other possible players who could become Mexican, such as Unai Bilbao, Juan Brunetta, German Berterame among others.
Whilst much of this is just a need to create largely artificial debate and controversy for the purpose of clicks or ratings, it does ultimately manufacture a heady atmosphere of fragile nationalism, pessimism, fatalism and hysteria. To a certain extent this stays under wraps whilst events go as expected but as soon as Honduras took the lead in Tegucigalpa, these sensations bubbled over and infected every analysis and opinion on the team. Neither did this dissipate in the aftermath of the penalty shoot-out win. The consensus of the loudest voices on social media and television networks was that Mexico had unduly benefitted from refereeing decisions, it was unbecoming to celebrate such victory over a seemingly inferior opponent and that Lozano had been very close to losing his job. Hostility was only exacerbated by a report in the magazine, Proceso, which stated that the Mexican Football Federation was employing a media strategy to combat negative press. In and of itself that is not surprising, but it was taken in the spirit of the federation looking to take on the press in an adversarial fashion and wanted to limit free speech. Tensions were high and for a while the players too seem to have taken that tension onto the pitch as well as now having a difficult relationship with the press. It got to the point that Chicharito uploaded a video to social media complaining that it feels like the press want the national team to fail and I can sympathise with the feelings of the players because this can be seen in the way that Santi Gimenez is treated of late. He is currently the player having the most success in Europe, but for all the online accounts who like to share his exploits they also like to magnify all his mistakes on the pitch. Prior to the break he missed a penalty for Feyenoord and there seemed a relish to all the posts sharing his mishap. One day the press is championing a move to Real Madrid or is highlighting statistics that show his impressive feats and the next day they plaster the internet with any missed chance he has. They wish to elevate him or bury him. This constant tussle between up and down does little to contribute to a sense of stability within the national setup.
The national team underperformed against Honduras, and whilst it was a huge relief to achieve the result in the end, it should never have been so close. Sometimes in football though, these things happen. Lozano made mistakes in his selection and presumably he will learn. Over time the team should improve and there are reasons for optimism. The problems within the federation are real though and unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. Those problems, however, are not helped by the general sense of hysteria that often envelops the entire national football scene. One bad half and you have the entire press and fandom demanding to burn everything down. As Mexico gears up for the Nations League semi-final and the Copa America in 2024 there is no doubt there is plenty of potential for further crisis points and Jimmy will have to guide a steady ship if he hopes to still be the coach heading into 2025.