Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (pictured) answers questions at a press conference on September 4, 2017, in San Jose, Costa Rica. (Photo: Mexsport)
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Mexico has already booked a spot in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but head coach Juan Carlos Osorio is hungry for more.
Thanks to a 1-0 win over visiting Panama on Friday, the Mexicans remained first in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying, improving to 5W-2D-0L with three games remaining on the schedule.
“We are very happy. We fulfilled one of our three objectives,” said Osorio at a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s encounter against second-place Costa Rica. “Now we are going to give everything in our reach to earn the other two. I am taking advantage of the opportunity to once more share it with the Mexican fans and hopefully they make plans to be in the World Cup with the national team.”
The Tricolor also wishes to finish first the Hexagonal for the first time since the 1998 cycle, which would give it a chance of achieving its other objective: being named a top seed in the World Cup.
That process continues with Tuesday’s meeting at second-place Costa Rica (4-2-1, 14).
“Of course it is one of the objectives that we have proposed for ourselves,” said goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa in reference to Mexico being the Hexagonal champion. “It depends on us, of what we do in these matches and inside the team the feeling is the same. We identify ourselves a lot with the demands of the coach. From here through the rest of the qualifiers, just like tomorrow (v Costa Rica), we are going to continue fighting for that spot until the end.”
