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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | February 2006 
Time To Get Serious
 SI.com
| | Mexico goalie Oswaldo Sanchez (right) and forward Francisco Fonseca react after South Korea's gift goal in Wednesday's friendly. (AP) |
On June 11, Mexico begins its quest for World Cup glory against Iran in Nuremberg, Germany, but the way El Tricolor played this week, one has to wonder if they are aware of that.
On Wednesday, Mexico put forth a horrendous effort in a 1-0 loss to South Korea. Normally reliable players made ghastly mistakes - most notably goalkeeper OswaldoSanchez,whose dreadful play led to the game's only goal - and the team looked disinterested as the Koreans took it to the Mexicans.
Now, it's only February and there's no need for Mexican fans to cancel their travel plans to Germany. But time is quickly running out on coach Ricardo Lavolpe's team. Mexico needs to improve with each and every game, not regress as it did in the weeks between a 2-1 win over Norway last month and Wednesday's lousy defeat. Otherwise, fans will waste tens of thousands of pesos to see their beloved Tricolor falter at the World Cup.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Wednesday's defeat was the squad that represented Mexico. Since it was not a FIFA-sanctioned international date, Lavolpe called up a team of only domestic players. But it seemed that half of the likely starters against Iran were left behind. Gerardo Torrado and Gonzalo Pineda did not make the trip, yet World Cup longshots Andres Guardado and Antonio Olvera did. Ramon Morales was left off the team, yet Lavolpe saved a spot for Juan Pablo Rodriguez.
Now is not the time to experiment with new players. Nor is it time to build up experience for the 2010 World Cup. Every ounce of energy should be used to prepare for Germany 2006, and if Lavolpe truly has most of his roster filled out as he has indicated in the past then now is the time to use it.
To its credit, Mexico has done well to schedule games against World Cup teams. If nothing else, this will allow Mexico to see what awaits in Europe.
"This game against Korea was a good test for us," Lavolpe said. "We saw what it is like to play against a fast, strong team. Players can gain good experience against a team like that."
However, it will only serve its purpose if Mexico truly takes advantage of the game. Fielding a team of certain starters and fringe national team players, such as Adolfo Bautista and Daniel Osorno, does nothing.
Next month, Mexico will play Ghana and Paraguay in two more tuneups. Mexico has to make the best of them. Wins and losses are not important, but playing with a sense of urgency is. That didn't seem to be the case in the lethargic loss to South Korea as players shrugged off their lousy performance with a seemingly casual lack of concern.
"We're not worried about this. We'll be fine come the World Cup," Sanchez said. "There is still a lot of time for us to prepare."
We'll see how well-prepared Mexico is on March 1 when it takes on Ghana in its stiffest test to date. If South Korea's quickness and strength gave Mexico problems, the Black Stars could provide an even more humbling experience. |
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