SAN PEDRO SULA — A year full of contrasts will come to an end for the Mexican National Team with the match at the door in San Pedro Sula. After 22 games, a Gold Cup title and a place in the Confederations Cup, the time has come to lower the curtain in 2015 for El Tri, who will face Honduras in a field where they have never won.
The year of the Mexican team began with Miguel Herrera at the helm and will end with Juan Carlos Osorio at the helm, after an internship by Ricardo Ferretti. Among these stories there were a series of chapters that marked this year in which, finally, one of the main objectives was to get a pass to the Confederations Cup.
In San Pedro Sula the 23rd match of the Tri in this 2015 will take place, which so far leaves a balance of 10 wins, nine draws and only three losses, in addition to a streak of 13 consecutive games without a setback that remains in force until before facing the catrachos.
This 2015 began with two consecutive victories against Ecuador and Paraguay in preparation matches, but later complications arose that largely marked the end of Miguel Herrera’s process at the head of El Tri.
First there was a defeat against the United States in a friendly match, then a victory against Guatemala before traveling to Copa América and after that, a streak of seven straight matches without a single win.
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In the midst of that streak was the elimination of the Copa América, in which El Tri barely accumulated two points out of nine disputed in the Group Phase, which did not even make it to the Quarterfinals. Then there were two more draws in pre-Gold Cup matches and the process already seemed to falter.
In those moments, as if that were not enough, off-field aspects that affected the last stretch of Miguel Herrera’s process also stood out. The problems ranged from a couple of posts on Twitter with political overtones on election day in Mexico, to overexposure in the media and in advertising messages, without leaving aside the constant disputes with a sector of the press.
All this increased over time and in the Gold Cup it ended up exploding after the way in which the tournament was won, especially after the victory in the Semifinals against Panama, which was marked by an arbitration controversy. After that came the victory in the Final against Jamaica and a day later, an action that ended up marking the year and the departure of Miguel Herrera from the technical direction of El Tri.
The coach attacked the commentator Christian Martinoli and that caused his departure from the national team. The immediate decision was to give Ricardo Ferretti the technical direction so that he could direct four games and one of them would be the most important of the year because a ticket to the Confederations Cup was at stake. The Brazilian calmed down and did his job. The assignment was fulfilled and with it came a bit of tranquility to an environment that had become complex due to results, forms and turbulent events.
Just before Ferretti del Tri left, as had been stipulated from the beginning, the arrival of Juan Carlos Osorio was announced and with it the beginning of a new era.
The Colombian took the reins of the national team and immediately went to work preparing for the qualifiers. His first test came and he came out with a win against El Salvador at the Azteca Stadium. Today, in San Pedro Sula, he will have his second exam that will also mean the end of the year for a Mexican National Team full of contrasts.