Lack of offensive punch has El Tri in precarious spot

Carlos Vela's absence in the upcoming Olympic qualifiers will be a big blow to El Tri. Andy Mead/Icon SMI

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As a regional giant, Mexico's participation in major international tournaments is seemingly an afterthought. It's hard to imagine Mexico missing out on, for instance, the World Cup again.

But the way the Under-23 squad is playing, the largest international tourney of 2008 may soon be out of reach.

Mexico's young guns have regressed over the last two weeks as El Tri prepares for Olympic qualifying -- slated to start March 12 in Southern California. Three games into its five-game preparation series, the team has just one win and two goals. Whether there's enough time to right the wrongs remains to be seen.

Mexico, which qualified for the '04 Olympics with an exclamation mark after a 4-0 rout of the U.S., is trying to avoid the fate of its '00 squad, which lost to Honduras and missed out on the Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Despite counting on some top-flight talent in goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, César Villaluz and Julio César Domínguez, Mexico's U-23s have done little to put fear into their CONCACAF rivals.

What's troubling for this squad is that the base of Mexico's most successful youth national team is alive and well -- but struggling. A bulk of the Under-17 world champions from three years ago is now trying to lead Mexico to the gold medal. Villaluz and Domínguez tasted victory in Peru in '05, as did Jorge Hernández, Enrique Esqueda and Patricio Araujo. Buoyed by senior national-team coach Hugo Sánchez, the squad seemingly has enough talent and experience to outclass opponents.

But the absences of the missing youngsters may be too much to overcome. The Spanish-based trio of Andrés Guardado, Carlos Vela and Giovani dos Santos won't participate in the upcoming Olympic qualifiers; it'll be up to those in tow to help push Mexico past the group stage and into the decisive semifinals.

Vela and dos Santos were the two brightest prospects following the triumph three years ago. Guardado, meanwhile, is a fixture on the senior national team. But Spanish-league duty will take precedence over El Tri for the three talented youngsters.

Mexico now takes its hopes to the U.S. On Sunday, El Tri plays Australia in Oakland, Calif., while Finland will be Mexico's final tune-up in Frisco, Texas, on March 6. Hopefully the team will have some better results north of the border, because its three send-off matches went from bad to worse.

Against Chile in Toluca earlier this month, Mexico scored an early goal at the penalty spot and put the match away with 10 minutes remaining for a 2-0 victory. But even then, fans began vocalizing their apparent displeasure with Sánchez. At one time, the Mexican legend enjoyed near-unanimous support from Tri supporters, but some of the luster has faded from the ex-Real Madrid star.

Chants of "Lavolpe! Lavolpe!" rang through the stadium, and were repeated in Querétaro days later after Mexico lost to Ecuador 1-0. It was difficult to gauge the manager's reaction to the chants -- Sánchez avoided the media in the days between games.

Ricardo Lavolpe was likely not the intended target of the chants -- there's no groundswell of support to get Sánchez's predecessor back into the national team. Rather, these chants are simply reflective of the support slipping away from Sánchez's grasp.

Though fans in Tijuana -- where Mexico drew Paraguay on Wednesday 0-0 -- didn't pelt the team with their verbal hostilities, they could hardly walk away from the match feeling confident about El Tri's scoring prowess.

Still, despite Mexico's lack of results, not everything is in tatters. The offense has been lacking finishing but it hasn't been exactly punchless. Against Paraguay, the team had several clear chances on goal. Domínguez pushed a shot over the crossbar from in front of the goal while Esqueda rattled a long-range bomb off the post in the second half.

Lack of finishing has been frustratingly troublesome for El Tri in recent games. But experienced players such as Villaluz and Luis Ángel Landín, who have combined for 33 Mexican First Division goals, have proven their worth for club and country before.

Mexico's defense, though, has been nearly impenetrable. With El Tri controlling a bulk of the possession, opponents haven't had a chance to dictate play. If El Tri's defense continues to stymie its opponents, the offense should seemingly come around.

Avoiding a catastrophic failure will depend on it.