Mexico are currently preparing to take on Ivory Coast in a friendly match in the United States. Ahead of the match, manager Jose Manuel de la Torre has expressed his confidence that the team will be able to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
There has been a lot of criticism of de la Torre following a run of poor results. He barely managed to keep his job after the Confederations cup in which Mexico is extremely disappointing. The team looked like a group of strangers up front and they were knocked out of the tournament.
De la Torre has said that he plans to implement a series of techniques over the next few months in order to improve the performance of his players. He has made a note of the mistakes that were made by the team during the last few years, and he is keen on rectifying them ahead of the 2014 World Cup. After this friendly match, Mexico will be taking on Honduras, who are one of the main opponents in the World Cup qualifying group. They are separated by just one point in the battle for the third place. United States lead the group with 13 points on board, while Mexico have seven points.
“México is going to qualify, that is our commitment and we are going to do that. We have done a critique among ourselves of the entire process, of what we have done since the beginning to end in all aspects, and knowing where we have made mistakes and where we have not. The change is in the selection of this preparation match. The naturalized players have the right to be selected for being Mexican,” said the manager. Mexico enjoyed just one victory – a 2-1 win over Japan – in the Confederations cup.