Mexico’s shock 1-0 World Cup win over Germany was the result of six months’ planning, coach Juan Carlos Osorio said on Sunday, adding that he had told his team to “play with the love of winning rather than the fear of losing”.
“We started drawing up a plan six months ago, we had to change some parts because of injuries, but basically using players who are very fast down the flanks.
We decided on (goalscorer) Hirving Lozano as he is our fastest player. We broke out in fast attacks, and we had numerous real chances to open the scoring before we actually did.”he told reporters after the match.
The Colombian coach, who has had a testy relationship with the Mexican media, lauded his players for their effort and also launched an aside at his critics.
Osorio said he tried to shield the players from the criticism which has come his way so they could concentrate exclusively on the match.
“The phrase was ‘play with the love of winning and not the fear of losing’,” an emotional Osorio told reporters. “They competed very well and they defended with their lives.”