The United States' three goals against rival Mexico in a 3-0 win in a friendly match Saturday, Oct. 3 weren't just goals. They were gifts.
That's how El Tri manager Rafa Marquez feels after the defeat to the rival United States, the first loss of his short tenure as Mexico manager after a pair of 1-1 draws with Colombia and Peru to start the legendary midfielder's international coaching career.
Despite the success he enjoyed with the national team and at stops with AS Monaco, FC Barcelona, and Club León, Marquez said he had lost more than he'd won in his career – something that he hopes will allow him to more easily encourage his players who made individual errors in Saturday's defeat.
"The falls are hard. It hurts to lose, especially like that,"
Marquez said in his post-match news conference. "They were more gifts than correct moves from the opponent. I have to be positive, see positive things, trying for us to make as few errors as possible in the next game."
That next game comes Tuesday, Oct. 6 against Chile. While it is a friendly, like the other three matches Mexico has played so far with Marquez as its manager, there is an increasing amount of pressure for the team to perform and deliver the first victory with Marquez at the helm.
If it doesn't come in that match, which will take place in Southern California, Mexico would head into the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals in November, official matches, still looking for a debut win with the new manager.
"We know wins are important, but we have to recover, see how people are who came out of the game to face the match Tuesday with the seriousness we need," midfielder Erik Lira said. "After that, we can’t forget these are preparation matches, and we’re preparing for something very big."
The goal is for Mexico to deliver an improvement on its performance at the 2026 World Cup, when Marquez served as assistant coach to Javier Aguirre and Mexico lost to England in a hard-fought round of 16 match at the Estadio Azteca.
But mistakes from individual players made it difficult for Mexico to reach that same type of level in Arizona, with goalkeeper Raul "Tala" Rangel first spilling a cross into the path of U.S. forward Julian Hall, then seeing an attempted pass cut out by American midfielder Cavan Sullivan.
CAVAN SULLIVAN SCORES IN HIS FIRST USA-MEXICO GAME 😤
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 4, 2026
He's now the USMNT's youngest ever goalscorer. pic.twitter.com/uV4i6g26hO
The 17-year-old Sullivan immediately scored into Rangel's empty net with a left-footed loft to become the youngest-ever scorer for the U.S.
On the third goal, it was center back Diego Campillo who let a pass roll to him - with Malik Tillman rushing to the ball and finishing off a third goal. It came with just 10 Mexico players on the field after El Tri left back Mateo Chavez slapped the cheeks of a U.S. player and saw a red card for making contact with his face.
Malik Tillman puts the USA out of reach 💪 pic.twitter.com/yIj4LrHAem
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 4, 2026
But Lira insisted no one will be singled out by the team for the defeat, even if the U.S. was given the gifts of much easier goals.
"Those are individual errors that are part of the game, making good plays and making mistakes. We support each other because we don’t point at anyone," Lira said. "If someone messes up, that’s part of the game. Whoever it is, we’re with him. That’s part of the process. We’re learning."
That learning process must speed up for fans to start feeling more comfortable about Marquez, a figure beloved as a player but yet to prove himself as a coach at a high level. Marquez also was hesitant to blame any players for the loss, but noted the mistakes certainly made everything that much harder for him and his staff.
"They were very rough errors, and ultimately you end up almost, almost gifting three goals to the opposing team," Marquez said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mexico national team rues 'errors' and 'gifts' in blowout loss vs USMNT
