Mexican National Team Crisis Deepens

As an admitted fan of the U.S. national team, over the years I've had my ups and downs with our rivals from the south, Mexico. Growing up I used to loathe El Tri, as they continually whipped on the U.S, sometimes in front of what seemed like 100,000 fans at the Rose Bowl on American soil.

Lately, I've taken delight reminding Mexican fans whenever I can about "Dos a cero" in reference to the U.S.'s historic World Cup knockout of El Tri in 2002 ... and then just about every successive match between the two squads.

Today, though, I take some sympathy for my Mexican friends as their road to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa looks grim ... real grim.

Saturday night, Mexico lost its first match under new coach Javier Aguirre, a stunning 2-1 loss at El Salvador, which included Los Cuscatlecos scoring the winner on an 84th minute penalty.

The loss drops Mexico to fifth place in the six-team CONCACAF region. The top three gain automatic spots, with the fourth moving to a playoff.

Oh right, the next qualifier for Mexico is at home at Azteca against the U.S. To say that game will make or break El Tri, isn't an overstatement. If the team loses for the first time ever at the Mexico City cauldron to the U.S., it likely won't get back off the mat.

As bad as it looks right now, Mexico still has six games to get back on track and are only two points out of third place. Yet as the losses continue to mount, you have to wonder about the mental makeup of the team.

Recently deposed coach Sven Goran Eriksson obviously wasn't the answer, and probably set the team back. What exactly is the answer for Mexico? Hard to say.

Like the U.S., Mexico has its top players spread out across the pond in middling European leagues and others in the pretty strong domestic first division.

The problem, it would seem, is finding a blend between the old guard -- Pavel Pardo, Rafa Marquez (who did not play vs. El Salvador, and Cuauhtémoc Blanco -- and the newer players like Arsenal's Carlos Vela.

Suffice to say, there's definitely something rotten in the Mexican camp. The crisis for Mexico is figuring out exactly what is wrong and how to fix it and they're running out of time.