The Costa Rican coach believes that Mexico will have no problem advancing to the World Cup and has all the potential to reach the long-awaited fifth game
Alexandre Guimaraes is one of the most senior technicians in the history of Costa Rica and the Concacaf area. The Brazilian strategist, a naturalized Costa Rican, led the Ticos to two World Cups and had dozens of clashes against the Mexican team at the beginning of the century.
In exclusive chat with ESPN, Guimaraes assures that despite the failures in the recent editions of the Gold Cup and the Nations League, the Mexicans still retain the title of Giants of the Concacaf.
“I think so (Mexico is still the giant), we must not deny the strengths of Mexico in the area of Concacaf. That is impossible, the greatness of Mexico It is regardless of whether in any tie he came out first or came out second or entered the playoffs. Mexico It is a strong team always, of course there are other teams that also grow according to their generations of players, for example now there is a very good generation of USA that is causing Mexicans to question whether they are still the King of the Concacaf, but I think that is undeniable, Mexico It represents a lot for the area. “
Guimaraes an admirer of the work of Gerardo Martino despite the fact that “Tata” has received much criticism after the defeats against USA in Nations League and Gold Cup.
“I think Martino has tried to make even stronger what Mexico has always been in the area of ConcacafWhat happens is that sometimes it is difficult for us to accept that other countries have evolved a lot like we did in the 2002 tie, as they are doing now USA which has shown very important growth, it is obvious that the results obtained by other selections of Concacaf make the floor move a little for Mexicans, but I am sure that the driving and the experience of Martino they will Mexico I can make the tie by fighting it up and then if they achieve qualification they will have a good performance in the World Cup. “
The Costa Rican strategist considers that Mexico will have no problem advancing to the World Cup and has all the potential to reach the long-awaited fifth match in Qatar 2022.
“I think that the Mexicans have enough level to achieve that much desired fifth game, but I think that sometimes you have to let things flow, they put a lot of self-pressure on that issue that I consider that it is better if things are allowed to flow and When the time comes to worry about that, they undoubtedly have great players and a highly trained coaching staff, it is a generation that has had very good passages in the Olympics, these players have all the processes to be very competitive players in a larger team and there are still some players which are salvageable from previous processes. I have no doubt that Mexico has everything to classify the world and get to that fifth game, “he said Guimaraes in exclusive chat with ESPN.
Guimaraes asks Costa Rica to beat Mexico anyway
During his time as a player and technical director with the selection of Costa Rica, Alexandre Guimaraes had the opportunity to measure himself at Mexico in dozens of matches, that is why he knows the intense rivalry that exists between Ticos and Aztecs, so he is already waiting for a new chapter when next Sunday El Tri will go back to the National Stadium of San José.
The Costa Ricans arrive at the beginning of the tie with many doubts after the arrival of Luis Fernando Suárez to the bench, however Guimaraes wait before Mexico your team can take all three points because they cannot afford to leave empty-handed.
“Professor Suárez has had very little time to develop everything that he wants to do and now he will touch on the same competition to make the corrections to score, I think that the main theme for Costa Rica It is to add points at any cost, it does not matter if you play well or not here the important thing is to score, Costa Rica is in this situation to score as it is “.
Guimaraes believes that for the duel against the Mexicans it will be essential to have the best version of a particular player who is an old acquaintance of the Mexican public.
“The most important thing is that there are not many injuries after the match against Panama, that is to say that Professor Suárez can count on a group of players for the duel against Mexico, but it will also undoubtedly be very important the presence of Joel campbell because he is very important, he is at a very high level, one of the best I have seen in his entire career, personally I have followed him from minor teams to his time in the European teams, I think Mexican football has fallen on him very well and is a figure in the offensive weight of the team, hopefully he can be at 100% for that game because it has been the basis for this team and from there Costa Rica can feel stronger on the pitch against Mexico“, he pointed Guimaraes.
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