Santiago Giménez says USMNT loss was “a reality check” for Mexico

The Mexican National Team were roundly humiliated against the United States in the semifinals of the Concacaf Nations League where they were destroyed 3-0 and looked far worse than their neighbours. Of course, the defeat left a huge void of despair surrounding Mexican football; one of the few players to show their faces after the heavy loss was Santiago Giménez, who accepted the crisis that the team are going through.

Speaking to TUDN, after the game against the United States, Giménez shared his impressions of the match, saying that Mexico did not show their intention to win, unlike the United States who, right from the beginning of the game, did show a huge amount of hunger and desire to make it to the final against Canada.

Mexico’s players ‘didn’t talk on the pitch’

“I don’t know if embarrassing is the word, but it was a reality check; I think we should improve many things, starting with the players, improving on the day-to-day work,” he said, hinting at a potential dissatisfaction with the players.

Giménez preferred not to give many in-depth explanations as to what the problems were, assuring that the important thing is to speak on the pitch. “I don’t like to give so many explanations, what had to happen happened, we didn’t talk on the pitch. We weren’t up to the task of the United States who tried to win from the first minute - we never had that intention. That’s complicated.”

Finally, he commented on what needs to be done to recover from the defeat and look ahead towards improving the situation: “The main thing is to look at each other and tell us things as they are. Grab your teammate by the arm and tell him that this is just beginning and get on with it.”

When is the third-place playoff for Mexico?

After losing against the United States, Diego Cocca’s team will seek to be the third placed team in the Nations League against Panama, in a match that will be played on Sunday, June 18.