“He who does not understand football only talks about numbers”.
Xavi Hernandez
Beyond the math that in November they will grant Mexico the ticket to the Qatar 2022 World Cup, everything indicates that the National Team will once again attend a fair as a mere competitor.
A year and days before the World Cup and after six Octagonal matches, the Tricolor has a more than acceptable sum of points, which has it as a leader; However, his performance before the ‘bullies‘but poor Concacaf rivals haven’t been anywhere near the outstanding.
Mexico defeats El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica or Costa Rica simply because it is a better team, it has infinitely many players superior than those of its rivals and a structure that has no point of comparison.
The ‘but‘and the demand of Gerardo Martino as a whole is that not even against these limited opponents is he able to reflect that he is betting on a style, it is known what the greens play (now black or white), that there are game concepts that are dominate or at least the clinging to one philosophy. Any.
Another worrying aspect of the Aztec National Team is the absence of true leaders like those he had in not too distant times: Rafael Márquez or Alberto García Aspe To name a couple that never went unnoticed with the national team shirt.
Andrés Guarded or Guillermo Ochoa are the closest thing to two of El Tri’s referents, but the first one has sadly denoted in recent and previous games that he is no longer to be a starter and perhaps not even called to the National Team; While Memo, although he is the captain, does not have the profile of the commander-in-chief that every group needs.
Out there some voices of reporters or journalists who frequently wear the T-shirt of cheerleaders and fans of the National Team, highlighted the victory in Cuscatlán and wondered “what will the detractors of Mexico say now?”, as if they had won against England at Wembley.
Huge victories are not forgotten at all Germany and France in different World Cups; however, both were in the Group Phase and ended in anecdote when Mexico again got stuck in the Round of 16.
Does not go through a bad wish towards the National Team or for playing riddles, simply today and for several months, the team in command of the ‘Tata’ is in a frank decline in terms of its operation and that, although they have the points in hand to go to Qatar, should be at least worrying for the coach.
In Concacaf, with everything and the recent setbacks in the Gold Cup, El Tri is love and Mister, but it is well known that in a World Cup the demand is infinitely higher and there is not enough with bad games that end up winning because the rival is a cartoon.
Today it is not known who is the central pair in the National Team because the coach has not found two reliable men who provide security. Nor is it clear who will accompany Edson Álvarez in the middle of the field, because Héctor Herrera with everything and that his quality is not in question, he does not have a competitive rhythm and therefore his level is very low.
On offense is where the picture seems to be clearer if Raúl Jiménez, Hirving Lozano and Jesús Corona manage to reach the World Cup tournament at a good level.
There is no time and many things can change, but the present does not deceive and with what has been seen so far of this Tri, everything indicates that it will certainly be in Qatar, although the ‘walk‘last three or four games.
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