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Fans heap abuse on Mexican team
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's national soccer team tried to slip quietly back into the country after a disastrous tour of Europe and Asia. It didn't work. As the team walked through Mexico City's airport on Monday under police guard, several hundred fans booed. Some screamed "Burros!" at the players and "Resign!" at coach Enrique Meza. There was shoving and shouting by local reporters, infuriated at having been misdirected by officials to an area away from the team's arrival. In the midst of World Cup qualifying, Mexico's national selection is in crisis. It lost 4-0 to England in a May 25 warmup ahead of the Confederations Cup in South Korea. Then things got worse. Mexico, the defending Cup champion, lost 2-0 to Australia, 2-1 to South Korea and 4-0 to France. It was the first time in 23 years that Mexico had lost every game in a major international competition, the newspaper Reforma noted, and it comes as Mexico is trying to qualify for next year's World Cup. Long considered the regional giant of soccer, Mexico finds itself uncomfortably in the mediocre middle of the standings in early qualifying, with a loss to the United States, a tie against Trinidad and Tobago and a win over Jamaica. The next games, a home match June 16 against Costa Rica and a visit to Honduras on June 20, have suddenly become unusually important. Local soccer officials summoned Meza to a meeting this week to report on the disaster. "I want to continue because I am sure that this team will be in the World Cup of 2002," Meza said after finally agreeing to an impromptu news conference at the airport. He promised changes for the upcoming games against Costa Rica, Honduras and the United States: "I am going to bring people who could not make this trip" to Korea, he said. "What worries me most in these moments is the morale of my players," said Meza, who as national team coach has won six, tied three and lost eight. He, too, appeared to have doubts about the physical quality of his team. "We should realize that enthusiasm is not enough these days," he was quoted as telling the newspaper El Sol on Monday. "I hold the theory that our players are smaller than the common denominator among the others we face, and that they [the others] are stronger and faster' Faced with that, Meza said, "I need my team to play within the 30 meters between the first and last line," where it has better angles and a better chance at intercepting or recovering loose balls.
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