Tata Martino acknowledged that Mexico’s World Cup performance was a “major failure” and that his contract had expired, with little chance of him taking over again.
Martino has not been a very well-liked El Tri coach, and his reputation took a hit on Wednesday when his team was eliminated from Qatar 2022’s group stage.
Mexico came agonizingly close to advancing through the round of 16 for the eighth consecutive World Cup before being eliminated on goal differential behind Poland in Group C.
Mexico and Poland are level on points, goal differential, and goals scored after Mexico and Saudi Arabia drew their head-to-head match at Lusail Stadium. Henry Martin and Luis Chavez scored goals in the second half against Saudi Arabia.
Salem Al Dawsari of Saudi Arabia scored a goal in stoppage time to prevent Mexico from being eliminated when Poland’s game versus Argentina was over due to a poor fair play record.
Ultimately, Martino’s team was too late to mount a comeback, and much of the criticism was leveled at the coach, whose name had been booed before to the game.
Told of his status as a “villain” in Mexico, Martino replied: “I can’t tell you anything abut people’s opinions.
“I am the main [person] responsible for the frustrations we have. I’m responsible and it’s a source of great sadness.
“I assume all the responsibility of this huge failure. It’s been eight World Cups this hasn’t happened.”
“Today, we looked for the third goal when we realized it was necessary based on 🇵🇱’s result. We knew that the yellow cards would keep us out.”
🎙️ Gerardo Martino. #Qatar2022
— Mexican National Team (@miseleccionmxEN) November 30, 2022
Martino’s contract was to expire after the World Cup, and he continued: “I have no reasons at the moment to think the future should be different. The contract expired with the final whistle and there is nothing else to do.”
Chavez was asked for his opinion later in the news conference and added: “We are the players, we assume full responsibility.
“I would say in the second match [against Argentina] we didn’t fully understand what he [Martino] wanted to see on the pitch.
“We defended well for some time but didn’t create enough chances.”
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard accepted his side did not deserve to advance with their performance against Mexico.
However, he sought instead to focus on their campaign as a whole – including the shock opening win over Argentina.
“Congratulations to the players. We did our best,” he said. “Today it was more difficult for us, but we don’t have to forget what we did together. I will always protect them. I’m proud of their World Cup.”