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Mexico's soccer coach fired after four months and humiliating loss in the Nations League

Cocca was named last February to succeed his compatriot Gerardo Martino after the failure of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, where El Tri was shipwrecked in the first round for the first time since Argentina 1978.

El entrenador argentino, Diego Cocca. Arriba a la izquierda, el logo de la Selección Mexicana.
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PACHUCA, MEXICO – AUGUST 25: Diego Cocca, coach of Atlas, looks on prior the 16th round match between Pachuca and Atlas as part of the Torneo Apertura 2022 Liga MX at Hidalgo Stadium on August 25, 2022 in Pachuca, Mexico. (Photo by Agustin Cuevas/Getty Images)

The patience of the leaders of Mexico's national soccer team ran out quickly with Diego Cocca.

Four months after starting his project and less than a week after starting the Gold Cup, the Argentine coach and his coaching staff were fired on Monday by the president commissioner of the Mexican Soccer Federation, Juan Carlos Rodríguez.

Cocca was named last February to succeed his compatriot Gerardo Martino after the failure of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, where El Tri was shipwrecked in the first round for the first time since Argentina 1978.

With little time to work, the strategist who was a two-time local league champion with Atlas was unable to capture his game idea. The team had a record of three wins, three draws and a humiliating 3-0 loss to the United States in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals.

That debacle last Thursday extended to six the streak of games that Mexico has without beating its staunch rival from the area, which it has not beaten since September 2019.

Jaime Lozano, who led Mexico to the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, will take over the team as an interim for the Gold Cup.

Mexico begins its participation in that tournament next Sunday against Honduras.

In addition to Cocca, Commissioner Rodríguez also dismissed Rodrigo Ares de Parga, who was in charge of the national team committee that appointed Cocca.

Both appointments were made before Rodríguez's arrival at the post.

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