Canales Daily: No Wins on Expectation

If anyone should have been prepared for a difficult qualifying campaign into the Hexagonal round of qualifying, it should have been Mexico. After all, the cold water of disappointment had dashed their Olympic hopes and caused the ouster of Hugo Sanchez, the celebrated former national team player turned coach.

Though the CONCACAF region has often been derided as one of the easiest confederations for a national team to qualify from, Mexico was definitely drawn into a tougher group of the three semifinal divisions. A resurgent Honduras, feisty Jamaica and a sleeper Canada squad lurked.

Still, Mexico was expected to qualify easily. If past is prologue, then Mexico was not only in the final Hexagonal group, but also through to the World Cup. Mexico has long dominated the region in qualifying for thirteen World Cup events. Even if this regional hegemony has recently been shared with the U.S., Mexico arguably rides a higher wave of respect abroad for its longer track record in the game, as well as its "Golden Generation" of players who won the U17 2005 World Cup.

Some of those players, such as Carlos Vela have gained acclaim in Europe. It must be strange for some players to find themselves removed from the storied stadiums there, back in the muck of qualifying sometimes.

The regional matches to advance to the World Cup are not glamorous affairs. The facilities can be sub-par, the lighting poor, the opposing fans hostile and rabid.

When Mexico played Honduras in the final game of the round, they looked to qualify on their own merits and leave no doubt that the team was coming together under new coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. Mexico clearly had the talent to control the game and impose their will on their rivals.

Yet playing through rainy, muddy conditions in front of their supportive fans, Honduras had an intense hunger that Mexico's players simply lacked. They also had just enough skill and athleticism to cause El Tri problems in certain stretches. More than anything, however, the hustle and drive of the Honduran players helped negate Mexico's technical advantage.

The lack of response by many players on El Tri - a certain unwillingness to get "stuck in" as the English say - was startling. Honestly, it was hard to watch the game and not imagine that another set of Mexican players more committed to chasing every ball, contesting every shot, wouldn't have had greater success than some of the stars out on the field against Honduras.

Soccer isn't always about the best team winning. Still, Honduras definitely appeared the superior team on the night. A fluke goal can happen, and while Mexico lost on an own-goal to Honduras, the Central Americans also created a higher number of chances and probably should have scored more than once.

Looking back, it's possible that Mexico was burdened by their own expectations of winning. The incentive to get down and dirty and grind out a result appeared to be lacking. Mexico was supposed to win, and too many players on the squad looked to be waiting for that to happen instead of making sure it did so.

Notably, Andres Guardado was the exception as he tore around the field with his trademark frenetic energy, but Gerardo Torrado exemplified too many other El Tri players in that almost every move of his was reactive rather than proactive, and half the time, a bit too late on the reaction. his frustration and bitterness seemed to show as his accumulated yellow cards resulted in a send-off.

That couldn't compare, though, to young Vela's strike against Ramon Nunez. The former MLS player was successfully shielding Vela from the ball when the Mexican striker lost his head for a moment and hit out at his rival. The earned red card means that Vela, too, will not participate in the first match of the Hex.

It's tough to go from a position of generally being regarded as too good for a region to suddenly finishing second in a semifinal group. Throwing a tantrum about it doesn't help matters, though.

 El Tri does move on, though, unlike the Olympic squad. Perhaps a lesson will be learned, leaving the team sharper for the next round.

That lesson is also instructive for the U.S., which not too long ago was one of the regional minnows swimming in Mexico's wake. Perhaps the memory of that has helped keep the U.S. team disciplined, less expectant and more willing to grind out results.

Still, the generation that remembers those days has nearly left the team. If the spirit of sacrifice and the thirst for every victory, no matter how minor, departs as well, then the Americans could be the ones struggling in the final qualifying round.