By Jorge Hernandez
Jun 23, 2024, 7:48 PM EDT
The coach of the Mexican national team admitted that he suffered a lot during the match against Jamaica in the debut of the Aztec team in the Copa América 2024 and praised the performance of Luis Romo, who came on as a substitute when the captain left due to injury.
After tight 1-0 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, Lozano explained what was missing Mexico and praised the “claw” that his boys showed.
“Jamaica it’s very complicated. They made us suffer with their long balls in the area. But my players did not stop running and I congratulate them because this can be defined in a single play“Jimmy commented at a press conference.
“We lacked forcefulness in some plays, but the Jamaican goalkeeper had a great night. We needed to keep the ball more. But it is the Copa América and there is no rival or easy match. Every game is a battle. To win you have to suffer and we had to suffer a lot,” he said.
He did not want to talk about Ecuador, because for Lozano today Venezuela is more important, “and more difficult”, since it will be his next rival on June 26.
“I knew they played a great game against Ecuador. We have to improve to face this Conmebol rival to continue adding points and get closer to our goal“, he added.
Regarding the state of the court, he said that he thought it was fine and that it had nothing to do with Álvarez’s injury. “I think it was fine to play, the grass did not affect it, it would be good if it was put in with more time (the natural grass), but I felt like a field was in good condition.”
And delving into the topic of captain Edson Álvarez, who was injured in the first half after a defensive run in which he ended up falling to the grass with a gesture of obvious pain, the technical director did not want to give a prognosis and explained that they will wait a little longer to perform the relevant medical examinations on the West Ham player and give an accurate prognosis of his injury.
“We are going to wait for Edson. In a couple of days they will give us the results to know what he has.because you don’t have to risk it,” he said.
Finally, regarding the work of Luis Romo, who replaced Edson Álvarez on the field, the coach said that he had been left with a very good impression.
“Romo helped us, he played a great game. We are together and united. It’s not easy to stay stable after your captain leaves a match so quickly and in a tournament like this, Edson was a hard blow, but the team recovered, although I didn’t like suffering too much.“, he concluded.
Keep reading:
· “I had a little time hunting it”: Gerardo Arteaga, Tri’s hero against Jamaica, spoke happily about his goal
· Mexico, but not before suffering, starts the Copa América on the right foot: 1-0 against Jamaica
· Edson Álvarez almost out of the 2024 Copa América due to a muscle injury
· Copa América 2024: match schedule, groups, broadcast and all the details of the tournament