Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, Uruguay’s coach, acknowledged that the poor performance of his Uruguay team in the 0-0 draw against Mexico was because the level of the opponent surprised him.
“I expected more from my team and less from Mexico. We didn’t play well, we had mistakes, but that was because they prevented us from playing properly. Mexico’s performance was above what I imagined,” said the coach at the end of the match.
Marcelo Bielsa acknowledges his team’s failures
– Uruguayan National Team (@Uruguay) November 16, 2025
In the friendly game played in Torreón (Coahuila), north of the Mexican capital, Uruguay made several defensive errors in the first half that allowed Mexico to have at least three opportunities to open the scoring, but the poor finishing of their forwards prevented them from doing so.
In the second half, the South American team adjusted, which caused the game to become entangled in the midfield with no goals, explained Bielsa.
“We had a hard time taking balls away at the beginning of the match. We were not coordinated to put pressure on the opponent in their half to press from there, we didn’t work. We improved in the second half, but we thought we were going to provoke Mexico’s mistakes and it was the opposite, they provoked them,” he accepted.
The coach took responsibility for the lack of offensive depth and defensive instability.
“When a team does not have a fine coordination, the coach’s work is damaged. We played below what I think we should have played, but I don’t link it to a lack of preparation or work because we have been developing the same idea for a long time,” he explained.
Bielsa also praised the application of the team coached by Javier ‘Vasco’ Aguirre.
“Mexico is not among the best in the world, but they are a respected team and it is a measure for any team to play against Mexico,” he said.
In its second friendly match of this FIFA season, Uruguay will face the United States next Tuesday in Tampa, Florida, in a game in which the coach will rotate his players.
“The formation for the game against the United States will not be the one we used today, so it is not comparative to the game against Mexico,” concluded Marcelo Bielsa.
With information from EFE
