Mexico deserves better than El Tri's anemic approach

Mexico defender Johan Vásquez (5) reacts after losing to Ecuador in the Copa America soccer tournament at State Farm Stadium.

The Mexican national team was eliminated from the Copa America on Sunday following its underwhelming 0-0 draw with Ecuador.

The result placed Mexico third in Group B, well adrift of Venezuela in first and outside of the group's automatic advancement spots.

With no one in the group featured in the world's Top 20 teams, Mexico's elimination is an embarrassment for the national program. But the most embarrassing thing about it is just how routine and expected this failure felt.

"Whenever you don't achieve your objectives there are going to be doubts," Mexico coach Jaime Lozano said after the game per The Athletic, speaking specifically about his future with the team. "But if the players believed until the end, it's for a reason ... but for me it's clear that we went out and were protagonists."

Protagonists, sure — but protagonists in an all-too-familiar tragedy. The Mexican national team has been on a steady decline since its glory days in the early 2000s.

Whereas previous iterations of El Tri dreamed of advancing into the World Cup quarterfinals and breaking what they called the "quinto partido" curse, this squad would be lucky to qualify for a World Cup at all.

Fortunately, Mexico's hosting gig for the 2026 event means it will qualify automatically; unfortunately, its guaranteed presence may show the world just how unprepared Mexico is to compete at the highest level.

The stats don't lie. In the 2020s, Mexico has delivered its worst World Cup performance in 20 years, failed to beat the USMNT seven times in a row and made headlines for homophobic chanting from the stands.

It doesn't have to be this way. The Mexican national team used to be renowned for its depth and vigor. But youth development struggles at the club level in Liga MX and a lack of support from the Mexican soccer federation have caused its well of energetic players to run dry.

Even worse, Lozano, who took over as interim leader in 2023, doesn't appear willing or able to get the most out of his attacking players.

Mexico created plenty of chances in the Copa America, but it failed miserably when it came to putting them away. In three games and 270 minutes of play, El Tri converted 58 shots into one measly goal.

"We have improved a lot defensively," Lozano said after his team's elimination, "but now we have to find that balance and work on that patience, that final touch in the attacking third."

He's not wrong, but the time to do that work was against Ecuador, when a win would've been enough to bring Mexico into the knockout rounds of the Copa. Instead, Lozano's men puffed their way through the game without ever really looking like scoring.

If you tuned in not knowing that it was a do-or-die match for Mexico, you never would've guessed it.

Time is running out for Lozano and Mexico. With Canada on the rise and the USMNT and Costa Rica reliably competitive, making waves in the CONCACAF region has never been more difficult.

Mexico's group stage elimination at the Copa needs to feel like an outrage, a failure; otherwise, it'll become just one more indignity in a string of them stretching back to 2020.

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