MEXICO CITY (AP) — The mariachi entered the field of the Azteca Stadium, while the players celebrated with their families Mexico’s qualification for an eighth consecutive World Cup.
Now, the challenge for El Tri is to improve what has been done in the previous seven editions.
Mexico relied on goals from Uriel Antuna and Raúl Jiménez in the first half to defeat El Salvador 2-0 on Wednesday, with which they signed their passage to Qatar.
For El Tri to reach the long-awaited goal of playing the fifth game in a World Cup played away from home, there is still a long way to go, acknowledged coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino, who will lead in his second World Cup.
“I have the peace of mind of having finished a tie with a duty fulfilled, it was something that was expected of us and it is something that we had to do,” said Martino, who coached Paraguay in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
“Now what comes is to prepare for the objective, tomorrow a totally different moment begins than the one we have been living in these six, eight months of the tie”, added the strategist.
The “Wizard” Antuna shook the nets in the 17th minute and Jiménez added a penalty goal in the 43rd to secure the victory, which was enough and more than enough to place Mexico in the World Cup that starts in November.
Martino’s team finished the eight-nation tournament with 28 points, second only to Canada, which finished with the same number but better goal difference.
The United States finished with 25, the same amount of points as Costa Rica, which finished fourth and will go to the playoff against Oceania.
The Mexicans thus ensured their eighth consecutive participation in a World Cup, from which they have not been absent since Italy 1990, when they were sanctioned by FIFA after falsifying documents to improperly line up players in lower categories.
Mexico managed to get through despite the fact that they never managed to develop an aesthetic football since they had many problems on offense, both pending tasks for Martino, who hopes to correct them in the seven months remaining before the World Cup.
“We had moments of anxiety in November, then in general terms since the results we have been good, but in football we have been from regular to good, from five to six points, that is where we have to work to recover the football level and express the idea in a better way,” he added.
The Mexicans will meet their opponents in Qatar on Friday, when the draw is held in Doha.
In the previous seven World Cups, Mexico has been stuck in the round of 16 and the leaders hope that with “Tata” Martino, who was also Argentina’s coach, they can take at least the next step.
“As long as we don’t get back to the football level, the opportunities (in the World Cup) aren’t going to be great,” warned Martino, however.
El Salvador arrived eliminated from the commitment and took advantage of it to lay the foundations for the 2026 World Cup process where the Mexicans, Americans and Canadians already have their place assured as hosts.
“The important thing about the octagonal is to know where we are and we are seventh in Concacaf, to aspire to a World Cup you need many things, but in this short process we could not reach that goal. After this we analyze what we need to climb,” said Salvadoran coach Hugo Pérez.
To face a game that was key against El Salvador, Martino changed his starting eleven compared to the last two games and sent Uriel Antuna and Alexis Vega to accompany Raúl Jiménez. In addition, he sent central defender Johan Vázquez and Gerardo Arteaga to the bench, replaced by Néstor Araujo and Jesús Gallardo, respectively.
Those moves paid off almost immediately on a corner kick play in which Araujo hit a header that was parried by goalkeeper Mario González. Antuna took advantage of the rebound to finish with a powerful shot through the right post.
Mexico extended their lead when Antuna entered the area from the right and was brought down inside the area by Ronald Gómez for a penalty that Jiménez converted with a soft shot through the center of the goal.
The Mexicans came close to extending their lead in the 46th minute with a shot from outside the area by Carlos Rodríguez that was deflected by the goalkeeper.
After that, El Tri lost in performance and was not dangerous until the 74th minute with a mid-distance attempt by Luis Romo that was rejected by González.
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