Alberto Aceves
The newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, June 30, 2024, p. a10
Last April, Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with Ecuador after police raided the Mexican embassy in Quito and arrested the country’s former vice president, Jorge Glas. Almost three months later, the two nations are once again facing each other on the same international stage, this time in soccer. This match closes the first round in Group B of the Copa America, in Phoenix, and determines the second-place team for the quarterfinals, where champion Argentina is already waiting.
Although sport and politics often first Although they are very different activities from each other, the context frames the situation that the tricolor representative is going through, third place in its sector and with a process full of questions since its elimination in the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Only winning at the hot University of Phoenix, where the local meteorological service predicts temperatures of 43 degrees, guarantees that it will stay alive in a tournament in which it has only reached the final twice, one of them, precisely, in Ecuador 1993.
Tomorrow (today) we are going to play for our lives, said coach Jaime Lozano in a press conference. Ecuador is a strong rival. They had an accident against Venezuela, but with Jamaica they returned to doing what they know how to do. As for my continuity, these are decisions that are not up to me. It depends a lot on the results. I have to try to get the best performance from the players and there are decisions that are not up to me.
At the close of the previous date, Venezuela qualified for the top eight by winning its two games (2-1 over Ecuador and 1-0 against Mexico). With Jamaica already eliminated and without points, the Tricolor, led by the Spanish Félix Sánchez, arrives with the confidence provided by the results. In the World Cup qualifiers towards 2026, it occupies fifth place, just four points behind the sub-leader, Uruguay (13), although much further away from the leader Albiceleste (15).
We have suffered blows such as the departure of (Luis) Malagón, but I feel the support of the group. I am calm in that respect, explains the 45-year-old coach. You have to know how to play under that pressure, adds defender Johan Vásquez.
▲ Jaime Lozano (center), technical director of Tricolor, explains the tactical movements to Jordi Cortizo (left), ahead of the crucial duel against the Ecuadorians. Photo @miseleccionmx
Since Lozano took over as coach in June 2023, Mexico has been on the brink of failure several times. In the most recent Gold Cup, it lost to Qatar in the first round and managed to reach the final without reaching its highest level. In the last Nations League, it fell to Honduras in the first leg of the quarterfinals, but managed to recover to decide the title against the United States, in another final in which it was surpassed. This time, the national team’s objective is against a Conmebol rival, where it has not won since the 2016 Copa América Centenario (3-1 over Uruguay).
The team is focused on trying to turn the page, we are more together and united than ever, says Pumas forward Guillermo Martínez. We are going to recover, because we are very hungry to transcend.
Despite the fact that five footballers with World Cup experience were left out of the call –Henry Martín, Héctor Herrera, Hirving Lozano, Guillermo Ochoa and Raúl Jiménez–, the president of the Mexican Football Federation, Ivar Sisniega, indicated that the goal in this tournament was to reach the semi-final round. The last time that happened was in the 2007 Venezuela edition, when the team led by Hugo Sánchez finished in third place.
In Argentina 2011 and Chile 2015, the Mexican representative used the U23 category, reinforced with some veteran elements, and was shipwrecked in the first round. In the 2016 Centenario Cup, they managed to get out of the group stage, but in the quarterfinals they met Chile, who beat them 7-0.
It is a difficult moment for the national team, but there is still one more opportunity. Regardless of who was there or who is there, it was going to be difficult, recognizes América striker Henry Martín, after the club’s owner, Emilio Azcárraga Jean, showed his annoyance at the way he was left out of the game. the definitive list.
2024-06-30 09:41:48
#Mexico #Ecuador #risk #lives #Jimmy
