Herrera slams Mexico´s finishing, Bolivia´s time wasting

Mexico coach Miguel Herrera bemoaned his team’s finishing after their 0-0 draw with Bolivia, while he slammed the opposition for time-wasting tactics.

Herrera’s side finished their Copa America opener with 11 shots to Bolivia’s eight, although both teams only managed one on target in Vina del Mar.

Mexico had Bolivia pinned back for the majority of the game but were unable to breach the South Americans’ defence, with substitute Raul Jimenez missing a close-range header in the latter stages that was arguably the Mexicans’ best chance.

“We weren’t clinical enough, we had opportunities, we missed the goal from distance. We missed two or three clear chances, when we should have done better,” Herrera said at his post-match media conference.

“Their goalkeeper saved a couple of shots but he didn’t have to be a star. We failed, the header from Raul Jimenez looked like was in, but it went wide.”

While Herrera was frustrated by his team’s inability to convert, he was even more annoyed by the behaviour of Bolivia.

Although Javier Aquino regularly went to ground during his 26-minute stint in the second half, with the Mexico winger lucky to escape a yellow card for a blatant dive in the box in the 79th minute, Herrera lambasted Mauricio Soria’s side for negative tactics.

“We wanted a better result, we tried the whole game, we didn’t waste time, didn’t dive, didn’t throw the ball away. They spent time lying on the ground time wasting,” Herrera said.

Mexico face tournament hosts Chile next on Monday.