If Mexico was to have a chance against Argentina, they needed to exorcise the old ghosts that have persistently haunted them at the international level. They didn’t have enough garlic and holy water today. Missed opportunities and sloppy play once again were the culprits in yet another Round of 16 exit.
In what had started as a stellar competition for the officials, another terrible refereeing decision tilted the balance to Argentina for their first goal. A clearly rattled Mexico then silver-plattered another and that was that. Argentina was never going to let Mexico get back into the game. Carlos Tevez made that emphatically clear early in the second half.
When a team wins, it’s because of the players, and when it loses the coach takes the blame. Javier Aguirre has no shortage of questionable decisions in the World Cup. The most glaring ones of which were his refusal to adjust his scheme to make room for Andres Guardado, his insistence in playing an injured Guillermo Franco when Javier Hernandez proved to be a much more dangerous option, and last but not least, his choice in goal-keeper.
So it’s the same story, different World Cup for Mexico. No real surprise. And it probably won’t change that much if Femexfut continues its business model of insatiable appetite for profit at the expense of improving the level of play. One day they’ll realize that if they did it the other way round, they would generate unimaginable treasure. But if you will allow me just a scosh of sunshine pumping before we crawl into that bottle of Don Julio’s…. Mexico’s best players in this tournament were all under 23. Those that weren’t yet playing in Europe soon will be. And in four years time, maybe, just maybe, Mexico will finally be able to clear that first knockout hurdle.
And maybe they can do it in spite of Femexfut.
Felicidades, argentinos.