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Mexico vs. Honduras, CONCACAF U-20 Championship: Reaction and quotes

Edson Alvarez, Diego Cortes, and Alan Cervantes talk about the win over Honduras and games coming up.

Mexican players before the start of the Mexico/Honduras match
Rafael Hernandez

FMF State of Mind was on site and got comments from some players about their performance against Honduras and what they expect in the next round of games that will give the 4 CONCACAF tickets to the World Cup.

Edson Alvarez

On not conceding yet

"It was a goal. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. I feel very happy and proud of my teammates about this."

Like Honduras today, now you're getting to get to face strong physical teams like the United States in the next round. What do you expect out of these games?

"Believe me, we are not going to be pressured by the rivals we are going to face. Obviously, we'll face them with a lot of respect, but the team is focused on what we have to do. We will see their work on the field.

There were some dodgy referee decisions made tonight. Is Mexico going to be mentally ready for a referee that might be harsher against them than other teams?

Yes, I believe Mexico has to learn to play against all adverse situations. It's where teammates shine like today, with our goalkeeper making a great stop on the play so we are very happy.

Diego Cortes

How did you see today's game?

Every game is complicated but we have to worry about ourselves and our play. We played a very intelligent game and at the end got the result.

Now comes the tough part of the tournament with tougher and stronger teams that are more in line with Honduras.

The whole tournament is difficult and we need to be prepared. The important thing is to know what we are going to do and we need to be calm and know that if we do our game the results are going to come.

On a personal note, not only did you have a great U-17 World Cup in Chile but you had the goal of the tournament. Are you looking forward to having a repeat performance in South Korea at the U-20 World cup?

Yes, like you said, it was the past World Cup. It stays like a very VERY beautiful memory because scoring a goal like that, which was voted the goal of the tournament, leads you with a beautiful memory. But first we have to be mentally concentrated on this, and once we get the ticket, we can look at doing something at South Korea that makes a difference.

Mexico had a penalty call against them and some harsh calls that didn't go their way that might have affected them in the first half. How is Mexico prepared to face harsher ref calls?

We don't get into it with the refs. They do their jobs and we do ours. If something happens with a penalty kick, our goalkeepers are prepared for that. and today they showed it.

Finally Panama or the United States, who do you prefer?

Whoever. Every team will be tough, we have to do our jobs. Venga!

Alan Cervantes

On what is the key to Mexico not conceding so far in the tournament

The key to to that has been work. We been working for more than a year and a half. We have been working and fixing all aspects of the team.

The game against Honduras will be more in tune to what Mexico will face in the next round. What can Mexico do to perform in those games like they did in the second half of this game?

First, we need to check all the details, all the the things that we need to improve on and work on. We also need to rest, recuperate, and analyze what made us lose a little of our football. We'll fine tune them and be ready for the next game.

Are you ready for the Costa Rican heat that is expected in the next game?

We are ready for everything. Sun, earth, sea, we are ready for it.