Mexico’s Sanchez feels heat
“Hugo, you get an F.”
That was the headline blasting Mexican soccer Coach Hugh Sanchez in the Record, an all-sports newspaper in Mexico on Monday.
The Mexican media were out in full force the day after Sanchez’s Mexico squad lost to the U.S., 2-1, in the Gold Cup final.
“Hugo failed at the Gold Cup,” wrote La Jornada.
El Universal wrote on its front page that Mexico “seems destined not to show its best under the leadership of Hugo Sanchez.”
“A complete failure,” added ESPNDeportes.com.
And those were some of the more kind stories.
Some reports already have Sanchez, named Mexico’s coach six months ago, possibly being replaced by previous World Cup coaches Ricardo La Volpe and Javier Aguirre. Stories also surfaced that some of the core players on the national team no longer wanted to play for Sanchez.
“There is something strange in the way some of the Mexican players interact with Hugo Sanchez,” wrote ESPN Deportes columnist David Faitelson. “There is more to the decisions by [Pavel] Pardo, [Ricardo] Osorio and [Carlos] Salcido than just being tired and urgently needing vacations. Hugo never had control of the group.”
Pardo, long regarded as La Volpe’s right-hand man on the field, plus Osorio and Salcido, chose not to travel with the Mexico team to Venezuela to play in the Copa America tournament after Sunday’s loss. All three play in Europe and cited fatigue as the main reason for their decision.
However, not many Mexican media outlets believed the trio and instead say that a rift between the players and the coaching staff has occurred.
El Universal reported an altercation at the Gold Cup between Salcido and assistant coach Sergio Egea but didn’t specify what the dispute was about, and that Rafael Marquez, one of the team’s most popular players, said there was a better work environment with La Volpe than with Sanchez.
This raises the question of whether Mexico needs to play well during Copa America for Sanchez to keep his job. Mexico plays Brazil on Wednesday in its first match.
Justino Compean, president of the Mexican Soccer Federation, asked for critics of Sanchez to have “patience,” as he implied that he expected to stick with Sanchez until the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
“Nobody likes to lose,” Compean told reporters in Chicago, “but this is only the first phase ... with Hugo, the project is until 2010, we must keep on supporting him with everything we can.”
Compean’s message was likely directed at some of the players as well as for the Mexican media.
The fate of a coach’s job being played out in the press is nothing new in Mexico, said Chivas USA defender Claudio Suarez, 38, who represented El Tri in three World Cups, although he is no longer on the national team.
“I imagine that right now it’s almost a revolution because of what happened yesterday,” Suarez said Monday. “It’s the No. 1 sport in the country and it hurts a lot because of everything it represents.”
Suarez added that the media in Mexico easily get carried away. In 1993, after Mexico reached the final of Copa America, where it lost to Argentina, 2-1, Suarez remembers how the team came back to a parade and how the media were ready to name then-coach Miguel Mejia Baron president of the country.
Two years later, after a disappointing loss to Bulgaria in the round of 16 in the 1994 World Cup and to the U.S. in the quarterfinals of the 1995 Copa America, Baron was ousted.
“All of the sudden he became one of the most hated coaches ever,” Suarez said.
It also happened to Bora Milutinovic, Manuel Lapuente, Enrique Meza, Aguirre and La Volpe, added Suarez.
“I think it’s up to the [Mexican soccer] federation, the people in charge of making the decision, to stand firm with their choice. Otherwise the same thing is going to happen again,” Suarez said.
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Copa America
Schedule for the South American soccer championships in Venezuela, in which the United States and Mexico are participating:
FIRST ROUND
Top two teams in each group and two best third-place finishers advance
GROUP A
Today at Merida
* Uruguay vs. Peru, 3 p.m.
Today at San Cristobal
* Bolivia at Venezuela, 5:45 p.m.
Saturday at San Cristobal
* Bolivia vs. Uruguay, 1 p.m.
* Peru at Venezuela, 3:15 p.m.
July 3 at Merida
* Peru vs. Bolivia, 3:30 p.m.
* Uruguay at Venezuela, 5:45 p.m.
GROUP B
Wednesday at Puerto Ordaz
* Ecuador vs. Chile, 3:30 p.m.
* Brazil vs. Mexico, 5:45 p.m.
Sunday at Maturin
* Brazil vs. Chile, 1 p.m.
* Mexico vs. Ecuador, 3:15 p.m.
July 4 at Puerto La Cruz
* Mexico vs. Chile, 3:30 p.m.
* Brazil vs. Ecuador, 5:45 p.m.
GROUP C
Thursday at Maracaibo
* Paraguay vs. Colombia, 3:30 p.m.
* Argentina vs. United States, 5:45 p.m.
Monday at Barinas
* United States vs. Paraguay, 3:30 p.m.
Monday at Maracaibo
* Argentina vs. Colombia, 5:45 p.m.
July 5 at Barquisimeto
* United States vs. Colombia, 3:30 p.m.
* Argentina vs. Paraguay, 5:45 p.m.
QUARTERFINALS
July 7 at San Cristobal
* Group A winner vs. second-best third-place finisher, 3 p.m.
July 7 at Puerto La Cruz
* Best third-place finisher vs. Group B second place, 5:45 p.m.
July 8 at Maturin
* Group B winner vs. Group C second place, 1 p.m.
July 8 at Barquisimeto
* Group C winner vs. Group A second place, 3:45 p.m.
SEMIFINALS
July 10 at Maracaibo
* July 7 winners, 5:45 p.m.
July 11 at Puerto Ordaz
* July 8 winners, 5:45 p.m.
FINALS
July 14 at Caracas
* Third-place game, 2 p.m.
July 15 at Maracaibo
* Championship game, 2 p.m.
