A win is a win.
That was Mexico coach Miguel Herrera’s message after El Tri’s 1-0 victory over Panama on Sunday evening, with the team failing to inspire and the Central America side stifling the home side for long periods in Queretaro.
“It’s not very pretty, but in these games (against Honduras on Thursday and Panama) they don’t let you play well,” said Herrera in the press conference after the match.
It was Herrera’s first experience as a coach against a CONCACAF nation and both games offered a neat summary of where Mexico is at and what things may be like in the future.
The first conclusion? It is unlikely to get easier. There was a little bit of fortune in both games that Mexico didn’t enjoy in qualification for the last World Cup.
Honduras and Panama exposed the same weaknesses in El Tri that were apparent in Brazil 2014 qualifying. Although Mexico won both games and didn’t concede a goal, it should still serve as a warning and a reminder that El Tri last finished top of CONCACAF qualifying way back in 1998 and nothing can be taken for granted anymore in the region.
Honduras made a couple of defensive howlers and Panama’s goalkeeper Oscar McFarlane gifted Cubo Torres the chance to win the game, otherwise Herrera would have some explaining to do. It is unlikely LA Galaxy’s Jaime Penedo would’ve made such a grave error.
Also, it was Honduras on Thursday and Panama on Sunday that created the first chances in both matches and El Tri was never genuinely fluid and entertaining.
Mexico’s best game of the four since the World Cup came against the strongest side, Chile. That is no mere coincidence and not just because both teams – unlike the matches against Honduras and Panama – fielded their strongest sides.
Given more space and against a team intent on attacking, El Tri looks more balanced, efficient and in tune, whereas when confronted by sides that seek to simply frustrate, Mexico struggles. It wasn’t too dissimilar to watching Jose Manuel “Chepo” de la Torre’s side banging its collective head against the wall in the first half of 2013.
“The distances (in quality) are short,” opined Panama’s Colombian coach Hernan “Bolillo” Gomez on Sunday. “It was a very similar game to what the World Cup qualifiers will be like and it was useful so people believe that we have a team that can fight for a place at the next World Cup.”
Mexico’s reality at present is that it is involved in a CONCACAF region that was once derided, but is slowly but surely being treated with more respect as teams develop styles, export more players and exert more tactical discipline.
Costa Rica and the United States showed it in the World Cup – as did Mexico – while Honduras was more than a handful in qualifying, as the “Aztecazo” showed.
As Gomez pointed out, it’s a phenomenon that is being replicated elsewhere. Over the weekend, England only won 1-0 against Estonia, Russia drew 1-1 with Moldova, Poland defeated World Cup winner Germany and Armenia tied Serbia 1-1 in Euro 20016 qualifiers.
It has been almost one year since that heart-stopping moment for Mexico fans when Costa Rica defeated El Tri and Los Canaleros collapsed against the United States to leave Mexico in the intercontinental playoff against a weak New Zealand.
It was an embarrassing episode for Mexico, but also signaled that while El Tri’s players may be better paid and more well-known than other CONCACAF players, there are no longer margins for error in international soccer.
Speaking in press conferences, Herrera has stated that he is well aware that others in CONCACAF – especially Costa Rica, Panama and Honduras – have improved and will fight tooth and nail to beat Mexico.
But that hasn’t dampened Herrera’s ambition.
“We have enough players to arm two national teams, not just to compete, but to reach the Copa America final and to win the Gold Cup,” he said on Sunday.
As long as Mexico keeps winning, the rhetoric fits despite average performances, but it is a fine line and improvements need to be forthcoming on the evidence of the last few days.