The Mexican national team has found stability under current head coach Miguel Herrera, and with that stability comes big expectations.
The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) held a press conference in Mexico City on Tuesday to lay out the goals for the entire national program in 2015. For the men's senior team, the FMF wants to see three objectives met this year. They first hope to win the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and then qualify for the 2017 Confederations Cup after a playoff against the US national team, who were 2013 Gold Cup champions. Additionally, Mexico will seek to reach the semifinals of South America's regional championship, the Copa America, despite that tournament immediately preceding the Gold Cup.
El Tri have won the Gold Cup six times in total, with their last title coming in 2011. They have also made it to the Copa America semifinals five of the eight times they've participated in that tournament, although their worst-ever showing came in the last edition, in 2011, when they were knocked out following the group stage.
Beyond the men's senior team, the FMF laid out goals for other teams in the national program as well. For the women's senior national team, the aim is to reach the quarterfinals of the 2015 World Cup, which would be their best finish in team history at that tournament.
For the men's U-20 team, who recently won the CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Jamaica, the expectation is to get to the semifinals of this summer's U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. The same goes for the men's U-17 team, assuming they qualify for the U-17 World Cup in Chile this fall, which is also expected by the FMF.
