Mexico coach Gerardo Martino refuses to blame strikers for lack of goals at the World Cup

Gerardo Martino has taken blame away from his attacking players, despite the fact his Mexico side are goalless at the World Cup. 

​Mexico yet to score at the World CupOnly registered five shots on targetHave recorded xG of 0.99 across two games

WHAT HAPPENED? The Mexico coach has called upon his whole team to help and solve their attacking problems, issues that have seen El Tri draw blanks in both of their games in the World Cup thus far. This is despite having a number of talented forwards including the likes of Hirving Lozano and Raul Jimenez.

WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking in a pre-match press conference, Martino said: “Right now, this is serious because we need to score in the game tomorrow. What happened during the last year was due to different reasons as we had our attacking players facing physical issues. Some of them are in good condition at the World Cup, but this is not just about attackers. We all share our responsibilities. It is up to the whole team not just certain positions.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Mexico are the only team other than Qatar to have not registered a goal at this World Cup. Honduras are the last team to fail to score at a World Cup finals as they finished bottom of Group H in 2010. It’s a rarity to say the least.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

WHAT NEXT FOR MEXICO? They’ll be hoping to end their drought when they face Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. It’s a must-win fixture of Martino’s side if they want any chance of scraping into the knockout stages. Three points mightn’t even be enough as Poland go into the final game bettering their goal difference by four. Mexico will have to beat Saudi Arabia by a few goals and hope Argentina do them a favour.