Guatemala Gave Mexico’s U-23 National Team “Los Cuernos”

Mexican national team coach Hugo Sanchez had his job on the line going into Sunday night’s Olympic U-23 qualifying match against Haiti. A win wouldn’t suffice because, to the dismay of every Mexican in Mexicanlandia, Guatemala conceded five goals to Canada, which meant that Mexico would need six goals to advance to the semifinals. To add a “fuck you” to the always present “fuck you” between rival Latin American teams, forums began to speculate that the Guatemalan national team’s devastating loss was a deliberate act of self-sabotage.

Two years ago during the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, Guatemala needed Mexico to draw against Trinidad & Tobago to have a shot at finishing fourth and making the play-in game against Bahrain. However, Mexico had already earned its World Cup spot and fielded a weak reserve side against T&T, who won 2-1 and eliminated Guatemala from contention.

Apparently, the Guatemalans didn’t forget. After beating Mexico 2-1 on Friday, they put the screws to their rivals Sunday — by letting Canada score 5 goals on them in their final Group B match.

Mexico was hardly deserving to progress considering they fell to the Guatemalans earlier in the week 2-1. Yet, this won’t bid well when the two teams meet up for World Cup 2010 qualifiers during the final round of CONCACAF action in 2009. What do you guys think? Was it kosher for the Guatemalans to allow Canada to score at will?

Guatemala: Player Haters of the Year [Fanhous, via With Leather]
Image [Statesman]