LOS ANGELES — Yon de Luisa was wearing a bright green Mexican national team polo shirt and an even brighter smile when he entered Banc of California Stadium on Monday, less than two hours before El Tri's women's team beat Angel City, 2-0, in an exhibition.
He hardly looked like a man carrying the weight of his country's World Cup hopes on his shoulders. But then looks can be deceiving. As the embattled president of Mexico's soccer federation, De Luisa is taking criticism from all sides — not all of it deserved — less than three months before his woefully underperforming men's team is scheduled to kick off in Qatar.
Mexico's coach, Tata Martino, picks the team's roster and the playing style, and he hasn't done a good job with either lately. Club owners in the country's top domestic leagues have final say over the agenda and control the purse strings. De Luisa is left to clean up the mess and explain how it happened.
