Canada may have been the story of Concacaf qualifying, but Mexico ended up level on points despite some disappointing results. El Tri handled almost every inferior team, and while the results weren’t dazzling, they were at least effective. Manager Tata Martino has been under fire for some time for uninspiring performances in the Gold Cup, Nations League and qualifying. But the fact remains that Mexico has been, in large part, fine without being spectacular.
Some of the drab performance has to do with an aging player pool without a real direction for the future. This side dealt with numerous injuries in qualifying and will continue to try and put the pieces together in Qatar. Nonetheless, El Tri has gone 4-3-3 since qualification, which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
The pressure is immense for Martino and Co. The Argentine manager said he feels like public enemy No. 1, and that’s before the team even steps foot on the pitch in Doha. Martino even reportedly turned in his resignation in September, but it wasn’t accepted by the federation and he was convinced to stay until after the World Cup. Should Mexico get out of a group that features both Argentina and Poland to make its eighth straight appearance in the knockout stage, perhaps calmer seas are ahead. For now, the storm of a displeased fan base rages on as the team heads to Qatar.
