Football
Tom Marshall, Mexico correspondent 6y

Mexico boss Juan Carlos Osorio's praise from fans is 'very deserved' - Ochoa

MOSCOW -- Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa believes the positive chants directed toward coach Juan Carlos Osorio by fans who have previously called for him to be fired are "very deserved."

"Osorio out" was chanted towards the end of Mexico's farewell friendly victory over Scotland on June 2 in Estadio Azteca, with the Colombian coach unpopular with a significant section of El Tri's fans as the team headed to Russia 2018

But after a 1-0 victory over Germany in Mexico's Group F opener and a 2-1 win against South Korea on Saturday, the Mexico-majority crowd inside Rostov Arena turned the jeers into a chant praising Osorio.

Like many of Mexico's players, Ochoa backed Osorio when the critics were demanding he left and is glad that the former Atletico Nacional coach is starting to win over the fans.

"It is very deserved that the fans recognised the coach," Ochoa said at a news conference on Sunday at Mexico's Moscow training base. "He's a very dedicated and passionate person, always looking to learn."

"He's a football almanac, he lives for football and the Mexican players."

Osorio had stated after the Scotland game that he hadn't heard the negative chanting against him and said it didn't bother him, but admitted to being flattered that the fans had been won over by performances in Russia.

"I thank those that did it, it is very comforting and moving to see that the Mexican fans are backing their team," Osorio said in the postmatch news conference. "Listening to the national anthem moves me and I imagine my players, too, because very few fanbases show such unbridled passion for their national team."

Mexico flew back to Moscow straight after the game against South Korea and training on Sunday afternoon, after of Wednesday's final Group F clash against Sweden in Yekaterinburg.

El Tri had been on the brink of qualifying for the round of 16 stage of the tournament, until Toni Kroos smashed in a free kick to hand Germany a 2-1 victory over Sweden on Saturday, meaning Mexico needs a point to guarantee its passage to the knockout rounds.

"We were in the airport when we heard [about the Germany goal]," Ochoa said. "Honestly, we didn't do any calculations, or mathematics.

"Regardless of how Germany did against Sweden, we were always going to play for first position in the group in the third game against Sweden."

^ Back to Top ^