El Tri under pressure

MEXICO

The Mexican National team is in trouble. Gerardo “Tata” Martino’s team lost their last two qualifiers, in the United States and Canada, and fell from first to third in the CONCACAF qualifying final round. Although the ticket to Qatar does not appear to be in imminent danger yet, the defeats have plunged the team into a kind of mini-crisis both on and off the field.

The first loss, 2-0 against USA, was particularly painful. Not only because the Americans are Mexico’s arch-rivals, but also because it was the third consecutive defeat of the year – in the summer, they had lost 3-2 in the final of the CONCACAF Nations League and1-0 in the final of the Gold Cup – which marks a reversal of a trend that, for the last decade, had notably favoured .