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Five months into his reign, Juan Carlos Osorio is still undefeated with El Tri. He’s only had a handful of matches to prove himself, but the results he’s been getting speak volumes of the potential in the team. In four matches under Osorio, El Tri have not been scored on and the 1-0 win over Panama in his first match is the only match that saw El Tri score only once. Their most recent win was a 2-0 result over Senegal.
He doesn’t and probably won’t provide the hilarious moments that Miguel “El Piojo” Herrera provided during his leadership of the national team but Osorio has been definitely getting results, results that will give any El Tri fan hope for the future of the national team.
With the Mexican Soccer Federation releasing their objectives for Osorio and El Tri last month, I can only hope they continue getting results.
Any El Tri fan will admit, it was a roller coaster of a year for El Tri in 2015 but it was a successful year, with the team winning the Gold Cup and CONCACAF Cup. 2016 brings new challenges and transitions for the national team. Their objectives radiate exactly how Mexico should be approaching the future: with a confident attitude, regardless of how challenging those goals may be.
As fans, we can’t be blindly optimistic though. I remember a while back, sitting anxiously next to my parents who were yelling at the TV screen. Mexico was playing Argentina in the 2006 World Cup. Mexico had played like never before against a world powerhouse.
Rafa Marquez had given Mexico the lead. That lead gave my parents and I imagine many fans throughout the world unrestrained hope that Mexico would edge out a win over the favorites to take the match. Hernan Crespo would go on to disappoint El Tri fans though, tying the game for Argentina. Off we we would go to extra time.
Sadly, Mexico would go on to lose that match 2-1 after a vicious Maxi Rodriguez shot from distance, leaving my parents angry and disappointed.
That match describes Mexico unmet potential to this date completely. They play like never before and lose like always. Will 2016 be different? Even though that description of the team has been the case in previous years, we’ll always be proud and optimistic of our team, while being realistic, mind you.
El Tri’s objectives are clear, be competitive in every match and try as hard as they can to go far in every tournament.
El Tri Goals 2016
Copa America Centenario
Goal: Top 3 Places
Messi vs. Guardado: two familiar foes will see each other once again. Photo: @SeanDennisonMLS | Twitter
The Mexican Federation believes El Tri should end the Copa America Centenario in the top three. It's an ambitious goal, but at least they aren’t expecting Osorio to win the tournament itself.
Top three is ambitious, but Mexico could reach it, to be honest. They’ll face stiff competition from Argentina, Brazil and Costa Rica, but beating the best in the Americas is never an easy thing.
Messi won’t be playing in the Olympics, so that will give Argentina the edge. Chicharito will most likely feature in the Copa America Centenario, but Bayer Leverkusen recently came out saying they would rather have him compete in either the Copa America or the Olympics, not both.
Clubs aren’t required by FIFA to release any over-23 players for the Olympics, so we’ll see what decision Chicharito makes or Osorio makes this summer. All in all, expect Mexico to put up a fight in this Copa America compared to the previous ones. My prediction is that they’ll end up in either 4th place or 3rd. I would be ecstatic if they place higher than that, of course.
U-23 Olympics
Goal: Win A Medal
It ain’t easy being champs Photo: @Rio2016_en | Twitter
El Tri won the Olympics last time, and what a win it was. The expectation was that Brazil would take that Gold Medal home, but a persistent Mexico soared past the South Americans and took home the gold.
That win hasn’t gone to El Tri’s head though, they know it’ll be difficult to win back to back Olympic gold. Teams will be gunning for them since they are the current holders. The goal for the team is win a medal. They aren’t saying that success will be measured by the team winning gold. They are literally saying that any medal would suffice.
That will be good for the team. It’ll take a bit of the pressure off their shoulders. Jesus “Tecatito” Corona will most likely feature for El Tri in 2016 Olympics and expect him to shine for El Tri. My prediction is that El Tri will at the very least win a silver medal. They have the potential to get gold, but you never know what to expect in the world of soccer.
World Cup Qualifying
Goal: 1st Place
Can they continue their hot start? Photo: @YahooSoccer | Twitter
So far Mexico is undefeated in World Cup qualifying. They have two wins from two against El Salvador (3-0) and Honduras (0-2), the latter of those two matches an impressive win in Honduras. Mexico’s goal in 2016 is to remain top in World Cup qualifying.
This is the the least surprising objective of them all. With Mexico demonstrating itself as the region's top side, it’s not surprising that the Federation will expect nothing but the best from the team in the CONCACAF region.
Topping world cup qualifying with ease is an objective that El Tri can reach and Osorio has started brilliantly. My prediction is that they’ll continue to do well in qualifiers, especially with the Olympics and Copa America Centenario, Osorio will be using these matches to bring out the best out of his players and give him an idea of which sides to field at the two summer tournaments.
El Tri Femenil Goal: Qualify for Rio Olympics
What a start. Photo: @UnivisionSports | Twitter
The expectation of El Tri Femenil is to qualify for the Rio Olympics, and what a way to start their campaign to get to Rio. In a brutal one-sided match against Puerto Rico, El Tri Femenil won 6-0 to begin their Olympic qualifiers in style. They lost the next one to the defending World Cup champion United States, 1-0 on a controversal penalty call, but if they continue like this, they should reach their goal of qualifying for Rio smoothly.
