Mexico’s Listless Play Remains a Big Concern
With the jeers of the home fans still echoing, Mexico’s national soccer team seeks refuge and recovery in San Francisco and Los Angeles this week with two final tuneup games before embarking to the World Cup.
Having been booed during a listless 2-1 victory over Colombia on Sunday in Mexico City, Mexico will regroup at 8 tonight in an exhibition against Bolivia at San Francisco Stadium at Candlestick Point, followed by a match against Italian club AC Milan Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Coliseum. Monday, the team travels to Japan, where it will play its first World Cup match June 3 against Croatia.
Drawn into a demanding group that also includes Italy and Ecuador, Mexico Coach Javier Aguirre is hoping to use the Bolivia and Milan matches to prepare for the South American and Italian playing styles his team will encounter in Japan.
Bolivia failed to qualify for the World Cup, finishing seventh in the 10-team South American qualification group. Assigned to rebuild the program, Bolivia Coach Carlos Trucco will be playing a squad composed mostly of young prospects.
Aguirre experimented with his lineup against Colombia, tinkering at four positions, much to the consternation of the crowd at Estadio Azteca. Playing with little passion or purpose, the Mexican players were booed as they left the field at the end of a scoreless first half.
Aguirre made four substitutions in the second half, bringing on several attackers and defender Rafael Marquez. Mexico took the lead in the 52nd minute on a goal by Jared Borgetti, but couldn’t hold it for long. Fifteen minutes from time, Marquez scored on a header to salvage the victory, if not forgiveness from the home fans and media.
Similarly unimpressed was Aguirre.
“We may have won,” he said, “but I wish we had played better, particularly in the first half.”
Mexico is 3-2 in its last five warmup games, but with the exception of a 4-0 victory over lightly regarded Albania, has struggled to score goals. Since mid-February, Mexico has lost to Yugoslavia, 2-1, and to the United States, 1-0--and needed a 90th-minute goal to beat Bulgaria, 1-0, on April 17.
