“Martino can finally sleep after his Gold Cupvictory,” was how El Universal reporter Daniel Blumrosen ended his Gold Cup final match report. The reaction is emblematic of the pressure every El Tri manager faces as the head of themost successful Concacaf team in the past decade.
Gerardo Martino didn’t look tired in his post-match presser, though; he was eager to answer questions. After all, Tata’steam had just beaten the United States, 1–0, off of a lovely team goal from Jonathan Dos Santos and a second half that suggested Mexican superiority.
In the end, the Gold Cupstayed true to its script. The Mexican federation executives and the tens of thousands of fans in Chicago expected nothing but Concacaf supremacy, and that’s what they got. Martino finished hissix months in charge undefeated and playing genuinely attractive soccer.
Balancing act. When asked by a reporter what his teamwas missing — given the eight national team regulars who were absent in the Gold Cup — Martino was candid.
“What was missing? More training, more time together,”Martino replied. “The replacements are young, they followed the championship with confidence. I’ll still insist we’d be better with our players who couldn’t come. We can thinkof one — one of the top three attackers in the Dutch league. We don’t have any reason to think we wouldn’t be better off without the players who didn’t come. ButI’ve been very happy for how the first six months of management have been.”
Martino is referring to “Chucky” Lozano, of course — one of the brightestMexican prospects who’s out with a knee injury.
The fact is, Mexico won this tournament with almost half of its “A” squad missing. The record eighth Gold Cup title was still expected,though — an interesting oxymoron that only goes to show both Mexico’s overflow of talent and its high expectations.
Going forward, Martino now has to walk a tightrope betweenappeasing European players who were absent and respecting the newcomers who held their own in the former’s stead.
Who impressed Tata? With the next World Cup three years away, Martino got to know players for the future.
Though Dos Santos was named the official man of the matchfor his goal, it was Monterrey’s Rodolfo Pizarro who pulled the strings for El Tri in the final. It was his clever movement and his deft pass that found Raul Jimenez, who thenback-heeled to Dos Santos for the Mexico winner.
Martino acknowledged after the game that switching him to the right side at halftime exposed the U.S.’s faulty left flank.It’s that kind of flexibility that shows Pizarro is one for the future in a system that demands versatility in the attack.
Meanwhile, Uriel Antuna — who Martino saidcame “through the window” due to injuries — has proved his worth. If anything, players like him, opposite winger Roberto Alvarado and Jimenez are all the more confident topoach minutes from a complacent Tecatito, Chucky, or Chicharito.
Looks from Europe. A silver lining for a Mexico squad withoutits European contingent was that it allowed youngsters to prove themselves during the summer transfer window.
Edson Alvarez, the versatile defensive midfielder who started everyGold Cup game but its opener against minnow Cuba, displayed his splendid positioning and ball-winning capabilities to European clubs summer shopping.
“Possibilities are openingup,” Alvarez said after the final. “I’m really happy to be more and more close to this dream that I desire with all my heart and hopefully it will be the best for me.” Alvarezhas been linked closely with a move to Wolves, where he would join Jimenez.
Pizarro proved his mettle when overcame a gruesome arm injury in the first half of the final. Though hehasn’t performed for Monterrey as his $16 million price tag would suggest, he’s still confident that Europe will come calling. “I’m always going to have this dream,”Pizarro said after the game. “I don’t know if it’ll be this semester, but I know I’ll move to Europe sooner or later.”
There’s no telling how thisMexico squad will compare to the one that plays in the Concacaf Nations League in October. Most likely, the big names will be back. What is certain is that they’ll have young players fresh offof a championship breathing down their necks for playing time. With a situation like that, Martino should have no trouble sleeping.
Photo: Patrick Gorski/IconSportswire
It looks like Mexico will have a good team(S) along with a good coach with a great backround as player and coach. I keep wondering if Tata was hired to coach the USMNT how we would have played as a team. Now I don’t mean we would have a great team but I would like to have known the difference of play, the offensive accents, how the defense would have played, what new game aspects would be learned by the players, how the transistional play would have been instituted, and lots more….”SIGH”
Instead we hire a coach with a defensive backround, whose creative backround and experience is comparable to having watched Messi, Barcelona, Argentina on tv…I mean seriously guys, I’m more disgusted at Earney Stewart picking GB than GB himself…Well, you know at least our coach can read and speak English, WOW, that’s a big UP on things…….
Totally agree!!!! Tab Ramos speaks both english and spanish!
They should have hired Tata, with Tab as one of the assistants….
That would have been a great decision for the development of both players and coaches. Tab isn’t alone. A lot of people speak Spanish, but apparently not the management committee at USSF who supervise the coach.
Pizzaro made little difference in the GC. His $16M price tag is highly questionable. No doubt Mexico has a lot of quality, but its GC team needs improvement.
Agree with frank S. It’s the USSF routine of who knows whom, i.e., Stewart and GB. Coaches need to search for players that can bring it to the table, and USSF needs to find a coach to do likewise. Samo-samo federation politics.