Mexico aim for Gold Cup championship against Panama after disappointing World Cup – AOL

MEXICO CITY (AP) – The game will not be played against rivals Mexico as expected, but seven and a half months after the country’s worst performance at a World Cup in 44 years, Mexico will be looking to restore some of its battered image when it plays in the Gold Cup -Final surprising against Panama.

With Jaime Lozano their third coach in less than a year, the Mexicans will look to win their ninth Gold Cup title on Sunday.

Panama defeated the US to reach its first final since 2013. The country is aiming for its first Gold Cup championship.

“Usually the dream final is USA vs Mexico, but that’s not going to happen and it doesn’t matter to me,” said Lozano, who is interim coach. “For me, the goal is the same. If Panama is in the final, it’s because they did a little better than the United States.”

Mexico and Panama recently played for third place in the CONCACAF Nations League and El Tri won the last game 1-0 under the guidance of Argentina coach Diego Cocca.

Cocca replaced his compatriot Gerardo Martino, who called the shots at the World Cup in Qatar when Mexico failed to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time since 1978. But in the sixth of the seven games he officiated, Cocca lost 3-0 to the Americans in the Nations League semifinals and was sacked four days later.

That game was called off by the referee in overtime due to disruptive homophobic chanting from Mexico’s fans in Las Vegas.

Lozano, who led Mexico to the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, was appointed to the job but only for the Gold Cup.

Ten of the players who took Lozano to the Olympics were included in the Gold Cup squad. Seven of them are regular players.

“They bought our idea from us, not now but from the previous process (Olympics) and all I can say to them is to thank them for their trust, for the way the game plans are being implemented,” he said Lozano. “They decided they wanted to be the best team in the tournament and take home the Gold Cup.”

En route to the final, Mexico beat Honduras 4-0, then Haiti 3-1, lost to Qatar 1-0, defeated Costa Rica 2-0 and Jamaica 3-0 in the semifinals.

Although it looks like a dominant tournament on paper, the Mexicans have had long periods where they haven’t played well.

That needs to change if the Mexicans hope to leave SoFi Stadium with their fists raised.

“Panama are a team that knows what they’re playing. Not only does she attack well, but she also defends well. She has a clear vision of her game and has worked hard to develop it further. She’s been in the Grund final for a week,” said Lozano.

The Panamanians finished fifth in CONCACAF qualifiers for Qatar 2022, just one spot short of the play-off berth secured and eventually won by Costa Rica to qualify for the World Cup.

Despite this failure, the Panamanian FA re-signed Spanish coach Thomas Christiansen.

“There was an important development in the team, we made progress and it was important to have the trust of the federation because it was a disappointment not to go to the World Cup,” said Christiansen. “I don’t like the word failure because we’ve done a lot of things right in the past, but maybe the fruits will come now.”

Panama is in the final for the first time since 2013 and only the third in its history. The other game took place in 2005 and in both cases they lost to USA

“The football that Panama played was very good, we created chances to score, we controlled the games and we also improved defensively,” said Christiansen. “If we’re going to bring all these features to the finals, why not dream a little?”

___

AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports