Mexico coach Miguel Herrera has insisted his side have arrived at the Copa América aiming to win, hitting back at talk that he has named a second-choice squad for the competition.
El Tri open their tournament on Friday when they meet Bolivia in Viña del Mar, and little has been expected of them in some quarters after Herrera left out the likes of Guillermo Ochoa, Andrés Guardado, Giovani dos Santos, Javier Hernández and Carlos Vela with a view to sending a refreshed group to the Concacaf Gold Cup in July.
But Herrera says he has every belief that Mexico will challenge for the Copa América crown despite the vast amount of experience they have left at home.
“[We have brought] some stars, the best goalkeeper in Mexico at the moment in José Corona. There are Liguilla players, World Cup players, Rafa Marquez who has played in four World Cups,” the coach told a pre-match press conference.
“I remind all the people we have two tournaments. Mexico are the only team in the world that is able to compete in both tournaments [other than Jamaica], but this has never been a ‘B’ team. Our goal is to get to the final and to win it.”
Chile and Ecuador also stand in Mexico’s way as they hope to emerge from Group A. But while he acknowledged that Jorge Sampaoli’s side are naturally among the favourites to win the tournament on home soil, Herrera added that his team have prepared as well as possible for the task ahead.
“We come in strong, we come in very well. It a solid, strong, united group which knows what we’re looking for. The training on Wednesday was very good and generated more doubts in my mind.
“Without any doubt there are the normal nerves. It’s an important tournament. The pressure still exists for any Mexican national team. There are very few tournaments, very few real matches we play.”
Bron: ca2015.com
