Disculpen el desorden with my thoughts, it might take a while to get a right coherent one.
The last hours have been disastrous. A rude awakening, but a needed one when you start questioning who deserves to play for El Tri and who doesn’t.
My experience following the 2022 World Cup was strange, it was the first World Cup in my lifetime, in which I felt El Tri weren’t going to make it out of the group, and so it was.
Maybe in other years, my confidence would have been a tad bit better, but it wasn’t. Tata Martino’s ship was sinking way ahead of schedule.
When you look at these recent results…
You feel a sense of bewilderment because it didn’t use to be this bad. It sucks that we’ve reached a point where South American national teams just toy with El Tri. All the respect that they built in the late 1990s and early 2000s is shredded to pieces.
Vasco Aguirre knows a thing or two from the 2010 World Cup and how the hosts, South Africa, celebrated every second of their participation. Heck, they finished with four points, and barely missed the Round of Sixteen because El Tri finished with a better goal differential.
But what am I trying to say with this…Right now, as of October 12, 2025, I feel Mexico will feel and look a lot like South Africa in 2010. The people will make the inauguration memorable, picture perfect, but the national team doesn’t have the talent, nor the right management, to make it out of the group.
Just imagine if El Tri land in a group that includes…Germany, Italy and Egypt or a group that includes Colombia, Italy and Norway. In either of these groups, El Tri’s chances of making it out of the group are very slim.
Ricardo Antonio La Volpe has said it time and time again, that the only way El Tri can save their performances in the World Cup is by showcasing an appropriate system that fits the talent available. Aguirre hasn’t shown abilities on finding those solutions to reach that proper system that will make El Tri a hard team to break down. Colombia made it look so easy; it was embarrassing how easily they ran through the midfield and defense.
Even if El Tri’s U-20 lost 2-0 to Argentina in the U-20 World Cup, there were a lot of things done right in that tournament. The tough defeat shouldn’t erase the great tournament they offered, playing a very attractive style of football. Something that the senior team has particularly lacked in the last years. It’s just not attractive to watch a team heavily reliant on Raul Jimenez’s genius.
It wouldn’t hurt if Vasco calls up Morita, Elias Montiel, Obed Vargas and even Camberos. Okay, maybe Camberos is a bit of stretch, especially considering that he’s not a starter for Chivas. But maybe a significant reboot to the roster will give El Tri a different feeling against two tough opponents like Paraguay and Uruguay.
I don’t know what to expect against Ecuador. Will the crowd in Guadalajara go against the team if they repeat the poor performance from Arlington?
Will Alexis Vega get booed every time he gets on the ball, especially if he gives another quiet performance as he has recently done each time he plays for El Tri?
The Gold Cup and Nations League gave Aguirre time and respect to keep leading El Tri, but I’m afraid another loss like the one suffered against Colombia will create an unprecedented hurricane.
Aguirre and his coaching staff, which includes Rafa, have a difficult 48 hours ahead of them because right now, El Tri aren’t making it out of the group stage in next year’s World Cup.