Mexico and Panama tied 1-1 at the Reliant Stadium in Houston,
Texas. Both teams ended with less than 11 men, but it was Mexico
who also ended up without manager Javier Aguirre.
In the 79th
minute of the game, Aguirre was sent off after raising his foot
as Ricardo Phillips went for a ball. The men collided and aggression
ensued, causing the referee to show them both the red card.
While
Phillips refused to leave, Aguirre headed back into the locker room,
and at the post match conference offered his apologies.
“I
would like to apologize in order of the Mexican fans, the Mexican team,
the Mexican press, everyone involved with the Mexican national team, to
the officials and workers because (Thursday) I didn’t have very
good conduct,” said Aguirre.
The Mexican manager explained his loss of temper during the match.
“I
didn’t have good conduct in those two or three minutes, that in my
opinion, were brought on by a waste of time by part of the opponent
that tried to defend a ball when the referee had called a throw in. The
Panamanian player (Phillips) kept on playing outside the pitch. I wanted
to stop the ball, there is contact with the player, inevitably because
of the momentum that the player had. I lifted my foot too much and I
regret that."
After Aguirre made contact with Phillips, the player seemed surprised by the action and pushed Aguirre. Assistant coach Manuel Vidrio pushed Phillips back and players from both teams swarmed on the sideline. Phillips and Aguirre were each sent off.
“I regret that," Aguirre said. "In the first pace I shouldn’t
have gone out of my technical area and I was rightfully sanctioned by
the referee. I can’t direct the Mexican team from the bench and leave
them without a manager.”
Despite Aguirre’s claims of regret,
Panama’s Gary Stempel accused the Mexican manager of trying to injure
his player. However, Aguirre denied the claim.
“The only one
who knows the intention of the play is me. The player had a lot of
speed," Aguirre said, defending himself. "There was actually a Mexican player in the middle and I didn’t
have time to move my foot. That’s how I see it, and there’s no one who
can say what my intention was.”
Andrea Martinez, Goal.com
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Aguirre: I Did Not Have Good Conduct
