Former Mexico coach, Ricardo La Volpe, has talked up the quality of the El Tri (the Tricolour) players despite defeat to Colombia in an international friendly match ahead of their 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign.
Los Cafeteros [Coffee People] of Colombia defeated Mexico 3-2 on Wednesday, September 28 at Levi’s Stadium in the United States of America.
Mexico’s Alexis Vegas scored the first goal of the game in the sixth minute from the penalty spot and Gerardo Arteaga scored the second goal in the 29th minute as the first half ended 2-0.
However, Colombia came back in the second half with a brace from Luis Sinisterra and a 68th-minute strike from Wilmar Barrios.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will get underway from November 20 until December 18, 2022.
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In an interview with ESPN as quoted by As, La Volpe praised various attributes of the Mexican players.
“Mexico has the players that the world is looking for. Tecatito Corona and Hirving Lozano are players that have the ability to create chances. If not [Gerardo] Martino has Uriel Antuna and Alexis Vegas as his replacement,” La Volpe remarked after Mexico vs Colombia.
“Martino has given Luis Chavez from Pachua an opportunity with the national team and he is a great player. Andres Guadardo’s age doesn’t help him and Hector Hector Herrera made a bad decision going to the United States. Martino needs box-to-box midfielders that are able to generate plays.”
Mexico are in Group C of the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina, Poland, and Saudi Arabia.
The El Tri have never gone beyond the quarter-final stage at the FIFA World Cup. They reached the quarter-finals in 1970 and 1986, both times on home soil.
By Toju Sote
