Three weeks after the black episode between Mexico and the United States in the Concacaf Nations League, which caused the collapse of the direction of Diego Cocca, the tricolor team fell into a zone of weakness against a team weakened Qatari which prevented her from completing the match with perfect rhythm. .Gold Cup 2023 group stage.

Despite the boost of motivation given by the arrival of Jaime Lozano on the Mexican bench and which allowed them to win two victories and seven goals in favor during the first matches of the Gold Cup (4-0 against Honduras and 3-1 against Haiti), the team was ambushed by the Qatari defense and beaten 1-0 in their third game.

“The defeat is hard, because it was a great atmosphere (60,000 spectators at Levi’s Stadium), we knew what Qatar was coming to do, they had an opportunity and they knew how to take advantage of it. We had distractions and we lacked strength. We did not fall into despair but it was not the clearest match, it’s sad and annoying, it was a match to move forward, “said the Mexican coach.

The good news for Jaime Lozano and his team is that they already had a guaranteed ticket to the quarter-finals since Thursday night, when they beat the Haitians. But fans expected 100 per cent efficiency in the group stage against Qatar, a side ranked 58th by FIFA (Mexico are 14th) and who took their final World Cup spot in 2022.

Now Mexico will have to wait a few days to meet their next rival in the Gold Cup. Despite losing to Qatar, El Tri retained the top spot in Group B and will face whoever finishes second in Group C, who so far is Martinique, but there are still options for that spot to be taken by Panama, El Salvador, or Costa Rica.

The stats screamed Mexico’s wide dominance over Qatar in Sunday’s game in Santa Clara: 77% possession and 25 shots on target to just one from the rival. But it also serves to show the defensive shortcomings of Lozano’s tactical scheme and its stagnation in resolving the game.

Qatar was 100% effective with its only shot on goal, generated in the 27th minute thanks to a dizzying play from its right winger that Hazem Ahmed Shehata concluded with a precise header from the penalty spot. It was the Asian team’s only attack and it sealed the game, which lasted 100 minutes.

The Mexican national team saturated the area with crosses, shots and headers. Edson Álvarez had a few shots on the crossbar, Santiago Giménez deflected shots and Henry Martín sent in a shot that was blocked by a defender at the edge of the penalty area. Yes there was production of opportunities, but it never opened the door.

“The team generated, tried, it wasn’t our best game, but we made it more complicated than it was. I never liked the expression ‘a loss in time’ , but it’s something very real, it’s when you sharpen your senses the most and take advantage of situations, ”added the Tri coach.

Even, for the first time, Jaime Lozano chose to bring together two centre-forwards, giving Henry Martín the entry from 70′ to get along with Santiago Giménez, while Uriel Antuna, Diego Lainez, Roberto Alvarado and Gerardo Arteaga were on the wings. Such was the ambition to at least reach a draw that El Tri finished the game with only one central defender, Israel Reyes, and the others were midfielders like Luis Chávez, Luis Romo and Érick Sánchez.

Despite this, the French team failed to break through Meshaal Barsham’s goal within 73 minutes after Qatar’s goal. Lozano took advantage of the encounter to make room for almost all of his squad, as the only ones not to add minutes in the tournament now are defender Víctor Guzmán and substitute goalkeepers Luis Malagón and Antonio Rodríguez.

“We haven’t generated so many options, at least five very clear ones, we have very unbalanced players, two very strong attackers, today there were situations that were easier to solve, I think if they give us gave 10 more minutes we wouldn’t go to put it in (…) Anything is doable it just wasn’t the day For us it’s more motivation than pressure for support People “.

Despite the juicy turnout at Levi’s Stadium, support from the Mexican fans also fractured when the homophobic cry returned at minute 62 and was repeated at least a few more times in the final moments, but the referee, the Canadian Drew Fischer, you didn’t activate the protocol to end the game.

Additionally, Fischer’s performance drew attention for forgiving Mexico striker Santiago Giménez a red card 20 minutes from time after an attempted assault on Qatari defender Tarek Salman.

Unlike Mexico, the United States closed their group stage in convincing fashion with a 6-0 thrashing of Trinidad and Tobago, repeating the lopsided scoreline they applied to Saint Kitts and Nevis in the second day. With that, the Stars and Stripes team secured the lead and awaits second place in Group D, in which Guadalupe, Guatemala and Canada are still alive.

So far, half of the participants in the quarter-finals have already qualified: the United States and Mexico lead Groups A and B, in addition to Jamaica and Qatar in second place. The activities of groups C and D will take place on Tuesday and the only one who has no more options to advance is Cuba, last in group D.