Diego Cocca: “There is no A, B or C team in Mexico”

Diego Cocca wants to start his tenure with the Mexico national team with a convincing victory over Suriname on Thursday night for the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League. On paper this is an easy debut for the new head coach of El Tri, but things can go south really quick if they don’t take this game seriously.

The manager of El Tri decided to travel with 22 players to Suriname and left 12 in Mexico with one eye on their second game of this international window against Jamaica on 26 March at Estadio Azteca. The journalists at the pre-game press conference focused their questions on why Cocca had traveled with what many feel is an alternate team to face the easiest team of this double-header, leaving the key players in Mexico City.

Cocca: there is no alternate Mexico team

“I don’t feel it that way and neither should the players. I am responsible for these decisions and there is no A, B or C team. There is only one Mexico national team and every game is very important. This has nothing to do with the opponent being easy or more difficult,” said Cocca during the press conference on Wednesday.

“Each player has to show their talent in each game and demonstrate why they should receive a call up. We have to be clear internally and the best players in their clubs will be called each time. There has to be competition amongst the players that we call and we need them to play at the highest level with the national team,” added Cocca.

The last time these teams faced each other was last year and Mexico won 3-0 at Estadio Azteca, but this time Suriname are at home and they will be looking to rebound with a good result. The Nationals are desperately in need of a win in the tournament because so far they have one draw and two defeats.