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- CONCACAF only believes in giants
There is one decorative game left for the Mexican national team before closing a cycle as short as it is effective. Already deep into autumn, real life begins.
What's next for Mexico after the epic victory against the United States?
Before playing the Confederations Cup, the true consequence of the recent repechage victory in the CONCACAF against the unyielding rival, there are nearly two years of friendly and official matches; a qualifying round that begins and two tournaments of great significance. That era will now be the responsibility of the virtual new coach of the Tri, Juan Carlos Osorio.
No matter what happens in the immediate 'preparation' match (towards where?) against Panama on Tuesday, October 13th, the rigorous interim of 'Tuca' will arrive in mythical, unattainable lands. He will be the only coach who will leave well and will always have the positive questioning of 'what would have happened.'
His Tri played well: Drew 3-3 against Trinidad and Tobago; came closer than ever to defeating Argentina (2-2) and was superior in every sense against the United States (3-2), although that was not enough to secure a solid and calm victory. But the dominance was broken in a memorable way.
That tale will live in the confines of fantasy, represented by the goal of Paul Aguilar. But the idyll is about to end in a few hours to give way to the less enjoyable part of the process.
And it's not about the imminent direction of Juan Carlos Osorio, but about the qualifiers.
Because just when the Tri has to do the hard work, it shows its worst. It is good at showing its worth in tournaments where there is a trophy at stake, but it becomes apathetic when it has to chase a ticket to the World Cup. Perhaps it has convinced itself that it should belong to them. The first match will be on Friday, November 13th at home against El Salvador.
Then it will travel to the land where it feels the most rejection (perhaps more than in Columbus or in Cuzcatleco). It will visit Honduras in San Pedro Sula on Tuesday, November 17th.
It will return to the qualifiers in March 2016, a month in which it will play a home and away game against Canada, and again in November of that year to visit the hostile Salvadoran territory and host the Honduran team.
And between the third and fourth round of qualifiers, Mexico will play a tournament of high standing and prestige. The Copa America Centenario, unique in its kind for including several CONCACAF teams, in addition to the 10 from CONMEBOL, is scheduled to start on June 3rd, although the composition of the groups and the rest (yes, all) of the details have yet to be confirmed.
It will be the perfect opportunity for Mexico to clarify once and for all what its reality is between both confederations; where its level belongs more.
But the most important event will take place in August. With the Olympic Games, the defense of the gold medal arrives. Mexico qualified for next year's summer tournament after reaching the final of the CONCACAF Pre-Olympic and must demonstrate that it can assume the commitment as a football power in lower categories.
And speaking of youth teams, the Under-17 World Cup Chile 2015 is about to begin and the Tri will debut against Argentina on October 18th.