Mexico seeks redemption in return to Las Vegas for Gold Cup semis

When the Mexican national men’s soccer team was in Las Vegas on June 15, Jaime Lozano was not the coach who sat at the podium discussing El Tri’s disastrous 3-0 loss to the U.S. in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals.

That was Diego Cocca, whose brief tenure ended when he was fired almost immediately after returning to Mexico.

Lozano was named interim coach, and now he has a chance to lead Mexico to the CONCACAF Gold Cup final.

“Having (the team) has been a beautiful process,” Lozano said through a translator. “We didn’t start from scratch.”

Mexico’s path toward redemption and a record ninth Gold Cup title won’t come easy. Lozano and El Tri will face their biggest test of the tournament to date at 7 p.m. Wednesday against a resurgent Jamaica — in search of its own vindication — in the Gold Cup semifinals at Allegiant Stadium.

The winner will play the winner of Wednesday’s other semifinal between the U.S. and Panama in San Diego. The final is Sunday in Los Angeles.

Lozano hopes to lead Mexico back to its traditional place at the pinnacle of North American soccer.

The Mexicans failed to make it past the group stage at the 2022 World Cup, finishing third in Group C behind eventual champion Argentina and Poland. It was the first time Mexico failed to advance past the group stage at a World Cup it participated in since 1978, and coach Gerardo Martino was fired after the tournament.

Cocca was hired to replace him, but the dismal Nations League semifinal — which included the match being halted early because of homophobic chanting by fans — marked the end of his time with El Tri.

Lozano, the former Mexico under-23 coach who led El Tri to a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, was named interim coach ahead of the Gold Cup, and he led Mexico to multigoal wins against Honduras and Haiti in the group stage.

However, with qualification to the next round already secured, Mexico suffered a 1-0 upset to tournament invitee Qatar.

Mexico then defeated Costa Rica 2-0 in the quarterfinals behind goals from Orbelin Pineda and Erick Sanchez.

While Mexico seeks a return to the North American throne, Jamaica has a chance to shake up the continent’s soccer order. Mexico, the U.S. and Canada are the only teams to ever win the Gold Cup, but Jamaica has emerged as a serious contender under Icelandic coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.

The Reggae Boyz, who were runners-up in the Gold Cup in 2015 and 2017, played a 2-2 draw with Mexico on March 14 in Mexico City in the teams’ most recent meeting.

Midway through 2022 World Cup qualification, the Reggae Boyz began aggressively recruiting English-born players with Jamaican ancestry. The new additions, headlined by Michail Antonio and Demarai Gray, have begun to coalesce into a strong squad.

Twelve members of Jamaica’s 23-man roster play for clubs at various levels of the English soccer pyramid, and their attacking trio of Antonio, Gray and Leon Bailey all ply their trade in the English Premier League.

“Obviously, winning the Gold Cup would be a big bonus because we set very high standards for ourselves,” said Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake, who doubles as a captain and has represented the country in international competition since 2014.

“But if we continue to find the right players that really fit the system, there’s a lot this team will be able to do for years to come.”

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.