Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio says that while his team's quarterfinal loss in the 2016 Copa America Centenario was painful the squad has learned from the defeat.
The 7-0 loss to Chile remains the only adverse result in Osorio's tenure but is yet to fade from public conscious.
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"The most important thing is what happens inside the national team," Osorio said Tuesday at a news conference in Los Angeles. "It was a difficult situation, and we learned and I learned a lot from it that has helped us in the most recent matches: To arrive with not only a Plan A but a Plan B, to prepare better ahead of every opponent we face and to analyze each opponent, to always plan and put out a team thinking of the best way to win."
While the potential exists for Mexico to come up against Chile again at the Confederations Cup, where the South American champion sits in Group B and CONCACAF Cup winner Mexico is in Group A, Osorio said each game is different and a clash this summer won't have anything to do with the quarterfinal loss - or the friendly victory that came before the tournament.
"Mexico, as a team, is ready to play against any opponent. If we talk about one game at a time, I think Mexico, considering that every county, whether it’s smaller countries than Mexico and/or bigger countries than Mexico with more players, at the end we’ll be XI vs. XI and if Mexico has all its players healthy, I think we can play against anybody," Osorio said. "Personally, I reiterate that it was a difficult experience at its time, bitter, sad, but we’ve benefited from the details we learned from it."
He went on to say that he feels his group is in better shape now than it was ahead of Copa America.
"I don’t think it’s revenge. Football is a game and there are always three possible results. Seventeen days before this painful loss, we beat a Chilean team 1-0. This is soccer, but I think as a group we’re much better prepared and much stronger than at that time."
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Osorio was in San Antonio over the holiday weekend to give a coaching clinic before traveling to LA to tour the LAFC stadium site and speak with reporters ahead of a May 27 friendly against Croatia. He now heads to New York City to do more media appearances ahead of a June 1 game against Ireland.
