PHILADELPHIA – The Mexican national team arrived at Lincoln Financial Field here in Philly on Saturday afternoon, having traveled just a few miles from their team hotel to take the pitch in preparation for Sunday’s CONCACAF Gold Cup final against Jamaica (7:30 pm ET; Fox Sports 1, Univision, Sportsnet).
The figurative road they’ve traveled to reach the final, however, has been much longer, and much, much bumpier.
Considered the co-favorites heading into this year’s tournament, the Mexicans have looked anything but dominant in every one of their matches, save their group stage opener against lowly Cuba. After a lukewarm performance against Costa Rica in the quarterfinals – one that saw them benefit from what some suggested was a dubious late penalty call – El Tri squeaked by Panama in the semis in what many would consider the wildest Gold Cup match in history, one that, once again, featured a series of calls that some feel shouldn’t have gone in their favor.
It’s hardly what was expected out of the nine-time regional champs, and the media in attendance didn't hesitate with questions about the team's form and path to the final when head coach Miguel Herrera took the stage for his final press conference ahead of Sunday's clash with Jamaica.
"Forget what we did in the last game,” Herrera said. "We didn’t do anything, we didn’t respond well; we played a very, very good game against Costa Rica, then followed that up with a very bad game. Fortunately, we still had a path to the final.
"Now I’ve spoken with the boys – we all saw that the game wasn’t a good one and we were all conscious of that. We weren’t partying after that game – people were frustrated because they were aware of how they’d been doing the whole tournament to come out ahead, and we didn’t do that with Panama. We noticed that and that’s important, we have to correct some errors. Thankfully, we’re able to correct those errors while winning."
Whether Herrera’s side can correct those errors remains to be seen – for now, there are other more immediate question marks, namely the health of a trio of players. Defender Andres Guardado – the man who sank both penalties in his side’s controversial 2-1 victory over the Panamanians – picked up a late knock in that game. Giovani and Jonathan Dos Santos, as well, remain a question mark.
"Guardado is a lot better than yesterday," Herrera said. "He got hit really hard [in the Panama match] and fortunately I think Guardado is going to be 100 percent. The doubts are with the Dos Santos brothers. We're going to test them out today to see if they're 100 percent and we'll go from there."
Speculation about Herrera’s job security has long been a popular subject of discussion in the Mexican media, and Saturday’s presser was no different. Some have said that anything less than a Gold Cup title may result in the coach’s dismissal. Herrera seemed aware of that possibility, but not particularly concerned.
“[As a coach,] you realize how things are handled in the media – when everything is fine and beautiful it’s great, but the second something doesn’t go well then everything is bad. I’m not saying it’s good or bad right now, that’s just how it is in general.
"I think everybody [associated with the national team] does their best to win, but as a national side you can’t have a bad game, ever. At the club level, you could have 3 or 4 bad games and nothing would happen; so the tournament continues, the rest of the season. At the national level, it’s just one bad tournament and you go home. That’s reality.
“We just have to win this tournament, and that’s our goal. Obviously my bosses are the ones who’ll have to decide my fate. All I can do is file my report, and they’ll decide."
