Do-or-die time for Mexico, not a team of excuses, says coach

Mexico’s must-win World Cup Group C match against Saudi Arabia will be a decisive one, coach Gerardo Martino says on Tuesday, as he had to shoot down questions about his side making excuses.

A toothless attack had been a concern for Mexico ahead of the World Cup and they are yet to score in Qatar, with the team rooted to the bottom of their group with one point after a 0-0 draw with Poland and a 2-0 defeat by Argentina.

“Will be a decisive match, because we will find out who qualifies and who doesn’t, what we need to do is to make the most of our opportunities.

Mexico reached the last 16 in each of the previous seven World Cups, but they risk getting knocked out of the group stage should they fail to beat Saudi Arabia.

Questioned when his side will stop making excuses by a journalist, Martino fired by.

“As a squad we never use excuses, but sometimes you need to describe the reality,” he says.

“When we say we played well for 60 minutes, it is because we played well for 60 minutes, and it is not an excuse but rather describing a situation,” he added.

“But if you see that as an excuse, well, I can tell you that we are far from making excuses because we don’t use them, and if you saw it that way, know that it wasn’t our intention,” Martino says.

Captain and midfielder Andres Guardado says the players believe they have a chance of qualifying to the knockouts.

“We believe in our chances, and we will hold onto our chances, and I think that we can win our next game we will try until the very end,” he says.