Mexico lets lead slip away in loss

Mexico Coach Hugo Sanchez may soon hear the words Donald Trump famously utters on his reality TV show: You’re fired.

Even though the president of Mexico’s soccer federation, Justino Compean, said on Thursday that Sanchez’s job was safe, it’s hard to imagine Sanchez keeping his job if Mexico fails to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

Once the favorite in the regional qualifiers, Mexico is faced with the possibility of not even going to Nashville for the next round after losing to Guatemala, 2-1, on Friday night at the Home Depot Center. Mexico scored first, but poor defensive marking down the stretch allowed Guatemala to end Mexico’s 21-game unbeaten streak in Olympic qualifiers.

Edgar Castillo, an American-born midfielder from Las Cruces, N.M., struck first eight minutes into the match with a goal that sent a pro-Mexico crowd of 19,368 into a frenzy.

Guatemala responded with a goal near halftime. Forward Carlos Villa was sprinting through the middle of the field unmarked when he received a perfect lob pass from midfielder Jean Marquez. Villa, in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, put the ball away with a shot to the lower right post.

Sanchez didn’t make any adjustments at halftime while Guatemala Coach Rodrigo Kenton made one substitution. Kenton then made another change nine minutes into the second half, replacing Villa with the fresh legs of forward Maynor Ignacio Lopez for Villa.

At first it looked like a risky move, taking out the goal scorer, but Kenton’s second substitution paid off when Lopez scored off a corner kick in the 67th minute. Lopez beat defender Francisco Gamboa to the ball and then Ochoa with a hard header to take the lead.

Mexico is in a win-or-go-home situation heading into Sunday’s game against Haiti. Mexico is tied for third in the Group B standings with Canada. Guatemala, which clinched a spot in the semifinals with the results, is in first place with six points followed by Haiti in second with four.

Haiti beat Canada, 2-1, in the earlier game with two spectacular goals in the second half. Leonel Saint-Preux, who plays for Zenith AC of the Haitian league, scored the winner in the 84th minute and had the assist on the first goal.

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jaime.cardenas@latimes.com