Guillermo Ochoa: “Mexico can’t start from scratch again.”

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·1 December 2022

Guillermo Ochoa: “Mexico can’t start from scratch again.”

Speaking after Mexico failed to make the World Cup’s last 16 for the first time in 40 years, goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa said Mexico must learn from their experiences in Qatar and build on the current team, rather than starting again “from scratch”. The 37-year-old explained:

“There are good things that are being done, you have to keep them going while improving those aspects that are not going well. I think it would be a mistake, and it is a mistake that happens to us every four years, to say: ‘Hey, the World Cup cycle is over so we have to start again from scratch.’ That’s one of the mistakes that I’ve had to live through in my experiences [with the national team]. We have young players who played at their first World Cup, these young people will gain experience and will have to be kept around and be taken to the next World Cup because it’s not going to be easy, as they’re not going to play in a qualifying campaign.”

Despite a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in their final Group C game, Mexico were beaten to second place in the group by Poland on goal difference.