Nightmare start for Mexico as toothless attack and Lozano injury ruin Gold Cup opener

There was nothing Gerardo 'Tata' Martino could do but watch.

Suspended for this match after being sent off during Mexico's chaotic Nations League loss to the U.S. men's national team, Martino watched Saturday's Gold Cup opener against Trinidad & Tobago not from the sidelines, but from the stands.

He watched as his side, one featuring most of the team's top stars, looked toothless in attack against what on paper was expected to be an overmatched opponent.

Martino watched as his star, Hirving 'Chucky' Lozano, was carted off with an ugly head injury just 18 minutes into the game.

And he watched on as, in the game's final moments with his side pushing desperately for a winner, play was stopped several times for a homophobic chant despite the federation's continued push to eradicate it.

Martino must have felt helpless as he looked on during his team's shocking Gold Cup opener, a nightmare start for more reasons than one.

It wasn't worst case scenario, as Mexico did earn one point from its scoreless draw with T&T. But it was pretty close as almost everything that could have gone wrong did for El Tri, on and off the field.

The most alarming was, of course, Lozano's injury, as the winger went down with a gruesome head injury following a horrible collission with goalkeeper Marvin Phillip. Lozano was put on a stretcher and immediately taken to the hospital, where he is now in stable condition.

And, without him, Mexico's biggest deficiency came to the forefront: goalscoring. This is a team that is still without its best goalscorer Raul Jimenez, who remains out as he recovers from a head injury of his own. It's also without Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez and Carlos Vela, two longtime stars that remain excluded from the national team setup.

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Heading into this tournament, that's where the question mark was, even as Martino turned to a full-strength squad. Yes, this was a team with Lozano and Tecatito Corona in attack to go with heavy-hitters like Hector Herrera, Edson Alvarez and Erick Gutierrez to start in midfield. But the goals, the striker, how would that play out?

On Saturday, those responsibilities went to Rogelio Funes Mori, who marked his first Mexico appearance with a goal last week. But, at least against T&T, he and the rest of the Mexico attack were held scoreless, despite generating 30 total shots on 83 percent possession.

Some of the credit should go to T&T and its goalkeeper, Phillip, who was outstanding. Faced with a seemingly endless barrage of Mexico attacks, T&T held as strong as can be, earning a point that must have felt like a million when that final whistle blew.

But some of the blame will certainly go to Mexico's wasteful attack. Several chances were fired right at Phillip, who flexed his acrobatics on a late save on Corona and on an early stop of a Funes Mori header. Others were pushed just wide, while the one chance that did hit the back of the net in the 93rd minute was called back for a narrow offside decision.

Making matters worse was an injury in defense, a unit that looked about as good as one can in a game with over 80 percent possession. Carlos Salcedo's injury will also be a concern, even if Mexico will rarely be tested throughout this tournament.

Perhaps worst of all, though, was what happened in the stands. Again. Despite all of the Mexican federation's pleading in recent weeks, despite all of the players begging fans to stop, the chant was heard on at least three occasions on Saturday night. The game was stopped twice because of it as seemingly little progress has been made in eradicating it.

What's the next step on that front? Who knows, but at some point more serious action can and will be taken to help fix what has long been a glaring off-the-field problem.

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In the days to come, Martino and Mexico will face plenty of questions about the on-the-field issues. After opting to bring their A-Team to this tournament, unlike the rival USMNT, this summer's Gold Cup was meant to be a relative cakewalk for El Tri until at least the finale. This was meant to be a return to form, a building block, for a team still stung from its Nations League defeat.

And it may still be. Despite Saturday's setback, Mexico could still very well blast through the group, erasing any doubts heading into World Cup qualifiers. The squad could look like the El Tri that may just remain this region's best team, even if they looked nothing like it on this night.

Saturday's draw saw Mexico's biggest flaws on display, its biggest star carted off and its own fans disregard all of its efforts to change its culture for the better.

All Martino could do was watch, but now he'll have to do some shuffling if Mexico hope to live up to its own lofty expectations.