NATIONS LEAGUE
What did Mexico coach Cocca say about Jamaica draw, Azteca boos?
Mexico’s supporters booed their players during Sunday’s 2-2 CONCACAF Nations League draw, but Cocca found positives in El Tri’s performance.
The Mexico home fans turned on their team in Sunday’s unconvincing draw with Jamaica, with jeers chiefly directed at Guillermo Ochoa, Raúl Jiménez, Jorge Sánchez, Diego Lainez and El Tri’s new head coach, Diego Cocca. Speaking post-match, however, Cocca stressed that there were positives to take from the 2-2 stalemate, which was enough to seal Mexico’s place at the CONCACAF Nations League finals.
We will get Mexica fans on side, Cocca pledges
“The fans have the right to say what they want,” the Argentine told reporters after his first home match as Mexico boss. “We’re feeling strong and confident, and are focused on working hard and moving forward. Hopefully we’ll get the supporters on side with the results and performances ahead.”
Cocca revealed that he took time after the final whistle to speak to the players who were booed by the Azteca fans: “I talked to them. I’m happy with the togetherness of the group, with the shift that we put in, with the number of openings we created. I’m right behind them and the players are going to show the fans just how committed and professional they are.”
Mexico boss urges patience with El Tri
The 51-year-old added: “We’re obviously not satisfied with the result - the aim was to win the game. But the way the team played showed me that this is the way forward. They liked the approach, they bought into it, and we created a number of goalscoring situations. We hit the bar twice, we went at Jamaica from every angle and we kept the intensity up.
“This is a three-and-a-half-year process [building up to the 2026 World Cup]. I’ve been with the players for a month, and in that time we’ve reached a lot of conclusions. We know that we need to adjust things, improve and work together to do that. That’s the job we’ve got to do and the conclusions that we’ve reached so far are very positive.”
And Cocca vowed that Mexico’s fans will see improvement as his tenure progresses. “Today the players showed me their commitment and their personality, and that’s really important,” he explained.” We can build great things on those foundations. Once we hit our stride, I’m sure that will have a knock-on effect on the fans and they’ll get right behind us.”