Trouble looms for the Mexican national team as they lost 1-0 to the Venezuelan national team on Wednesday evening. With the win, Venezuela has qualified for the knockout rounds of the Copa America, and while it’s not over for Mexico, it feels like it as El Tri had multiple chances to win the match. They didn’t just give Venezuela the chance for their only goal when Julián Quiñones made a mistake Jon Aramburu for a penalty that Salomón Rondón buried, but at the death Mexico was awarded a penalty for a handball that Orbelin Pineda essentially rolled into the hands of Rafael Romo.
El Tri dominated the opening moments of the match, but after big decisions such as leaving Hirving Lozano And Raul Jimenez At home, players like Santiago Giménez could not stand up to justify Jamie Lozano’s choices. After already crashing out during the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, Mexico risks suffering the same fate at this year’s Copa America.
Mexico had its chances with 17 shots for 2.58 xG and five on target, compared to Venezuela’s 10 shots for 1.19 xG and two shots on target, but what matters is the final score. Rondón’s offense was excellent and La Vinotinto made the necessary changes Cristian Casseres Jr. had to deal with the Mexican midfield in the half, but Lozano had no counter.
After being squeaked by Jamaica on the first day of play, the stage is now set for a clash with Ecuador where the winner will advance to the knockout round. With El Tri visibly frustrated during tense moments in a match, their mentality will be tested against one of the outside contenders for this tournament. All eyes are on the chances Lozano will create, because without Edson Álvarez to keep the midfield stable, someone needs to step up to lead Mexico to the knockouts, otherwise there will only be more questions for him and the federation as a whole.
Gimenez is worried
There are always differences between the form of players at club and county, but when it comes to Gimenez, he simply hasn’t shown that he can be the man to take charge at El Tri. In 29 appearances for the Mexican national team he has four goals and two assists, compared to 26 goals and eight assists in all competitions for Feyenoord last season. Without the available Henry Martin, it remains to be seen what Mexico can do, especially after Gimenez automatically played into the competition.
El Tri performed well defensively, but their offense just didn’t work. The addition of Colombian-born Quiñones would be a boon, but even he seemed to push too hard in games. If Mexico gets strong support in the United States, it could turn into added pressure, as fans chased them off the field in the first half against Jamaica and were frustrated at seeing the missed opportunities against Venezuela. A defeat to Ecuador would be something that calls for a change of course, but having changed so much in recent years, where would the Mexican federation even go in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup?
