MEXICAN NATIONAL TEAM
Hirving Lozano admits Mexico squad “weren’t connected” to Tata Martino and staff, who weren’t “at 100%”
The manager was replaced with Diego Cocca after failing to get El Tri through the group at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Mexican winger Hirving Lozano has spoken about the Mexican National Team and their relationship with former manager, Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, who guided the team to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Mexican National Team had a shocking failure at the World Cup on Asian soil last December, as they failed to get out of the Group Stage for the first time in 44 years. After finishing his contract, Tata left the job and decided he would not renew with the team in order to take up a new role in a new country.
‘The staff and players weren’t 100%’
One of the players who was used most by Martino was Hirving Lozano, who was then a player for Italian side Napoli. In an interview with W Sports, the former Pachuca youth team player admitted that, despite making the World Cup, the team never had a great relationship with the Argentine.
“In that moment a lot of things came together both with the manager and the players. We weren’t connected and a lot of people weren’t 100%, neither the staff nor the players. That all collided together and exploded at the World Cup, there were lots of things that weren’t OK.
“I left really frustrated, as I got there really excited. It was really hard to get over it once I got home, it really hurt because Mexico didn’t deserve that, I take it out on myself a lot, I spent a month going over and over everything, but I tried to get over it”, he said.
Lozano says the team needed a ‘hungry’ manager
On the other hand, ‘Chucky’ admitted he is happy with the appointment of Jaime Lozano, who is set to stay in charge for Mexico’s journey to the 2026 World Cup. “For me it’s really important”, he said, “to have a Mexican coach who already knows about Mexicans, how the people see the game, the players, that’s important for the team, to be hungry, wanting to do something and that’s what he gives off to us, it’s what we needed.”
Mexico will play during the upcoming international break against Australia and Uzbekistan in the United States. However, Lozano was not called up to the squad and will look to return to the team in Mexico’s next international session.
