Martino: Neither Argentina thrashing nor unbeaten run are Mexico 'reality'

Mexico lost for the first time under Tata Martino on Tuesday, but the coach is not too concerned and hopes to learn from playing Argentina.

Published : Sep 11, 2019 14:51 IST

Mexico coach Tata Martino
Mexico coach Tata Martino
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Mexico coach Tata Martino

Tata Martino will not feel too low after his first defeat as Mexico head coach, believing neither the big defeat to Argentina nor its long unbeaten run showed its true state.

Former Barcelona boss Martino was appointed El Tri coach in January and enjoyed a sensational start to his new role, beating Chile in a March friendly and then winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

But an 11-match unbeaten run came to an end on Tuesday as Argentina, Martino's former team and the last side to have beaten Mexico before its streak, ran out 4-0 winner in San Antonio.

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Lautaro Martinez scored a hat-trick before being substituted at half-time, with all four goals coming in the first 45 minutes.

Martino explained: "I do not think this is our reality - nor do I believe that having 11 games without losing is our reality.

"Of the 'A' class [of team], this is the second game we played - the first was against Chile and the substantial difference is that tonight we made mistakes.

 

"Argentina could hurt us because there were 15 minutes where we played well and then the breakdown starts from an error.

"To learn from this, we need to play more major games of this stature. We must look to try to compete with the best in order to be able to take that leap we want to take."

LA Galaxy midfielder Jonathan dos Santos offered a similar assessment, frustrated by Argentina's ability to punish Mexico, which dominated possession but was outdone on the break.

"I think the team started well," he said. "I feel that the goals for Argentina were more our mistakes than their successes. We know that we cannot make these mistakes against these teams.

"We have to lift our heads, we are still working very well. The team is confident and I think it is a defeat that will make us learn."

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