Mexico are wrestling with the humiliating prospect of missing football’s World Cup finals for the first time in a quarter century with only two qualifiers left to reverse their fortunes.
The crisis is so bad that the Mexican football federation is considering whether to name the national team’s third manager in just four days. And the media has shown little love for the players after El Tri lost 0-2 to their bitter rivals the United States in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday.
“Tritanic” was the headline in Excelsior newspaper while the Cancha sports pages said the team now needs a “miracle” to book their tickets to next year’s World Cup in Brazil.
Meanwhile, the sports daily Record bemoaned the team’s “dreadful” showing in Ohio.
“The prestige of Mexican football breaks into pieces and the dream of going to the World Cup hangs by a thread,” it warned.
The loss to the United States, coming off the back of an embarrassing defeat to Honduras at home last Friday, put Mexico in fifth place in the six-team CONCACAF regional group and fighting for a 2014 spot in Brazil.
With only the top three qualifying for the finals in Brazil, and the fourth-placed team advancing to a play-off against New Zealand, Mexico will be out unless they fight back in the final two qualifiers.
The United States lead the six-team group by a point from Costa Rica, with both nations already having qualified for the finals.
At the moment, the third spot belongs to Honduras, who have 11 points.