The End of the Goran-Eriksson Experiment?

It is a time of great uncertainty for the Mexican National Soccer team and for the country of Mexico itself.

After barely sneaking in to the final Hexagonal round (on goal differential), el TRI opened the final round of CONCACAF Qualifying with a now common loss to the United States at Columbus. Things don't get any easier for the Mexicans, as they host a tough Costa Rica squad who has gone 8-0-1 in qualifying.

Mexico is 20-5-13 all-time v. Costa Rica, but one of those five losses came in Mexico City, known as "El Aztecazo". That one loss haunts the "Aztecas" to this day, and the Mexican media cannot stop talking about the all too real possibility of losing to Costa Rica at home again.

Mexico's soccer federation is in disarray at the moment. It missed a chance at the Olympics with the same team that won the U-17 World Cup in 2005, it missed out on a trip to Egypt for the U-20 World Cup, and it was on the verge of missing out on the final round of World Cup qualifying last year. Add to that el TRI's 5-1-5 record since Sven Goran-Eriksson took over as manager from Hugo Sanchez, and there is no question as to why there are a lot of tensions and doubts surrounding the Mexican National team.

The uncertainty is so bad in Mexico that a press conference earlier this week nearly turned into a boxing match between Nery Castillo and a few reporters. This prompted newly appointed National Team coordinator Nestor De la Torre to issue an apology and announce that a new code of conduct would be implemented for all national teams.

De la Torre's new job is just the first change in what is expected to be a mass of changes in the structure of the various National Teams. A loss by the "Aztecas" on Saturday will surely usher in more changes as Mexico tries to claw out of a massive hole. The leaders of the FMF have already announced a Plan B in the event that el TRI loses.

That Plan B includes the sacking of Eriksson and the introduction of a new manager. Rumors have newly unemployed Javier Aguirre taking the reins, and if that doesn't work out, they have De la Torre's brother Jose Manuel.

Mexico has been in this position before. In 2001, Enrique Meza was the manager during the infamous "Aztecazo" and was almost known as the man who didn't get el TRI to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. Aguirre came in, put out the fire, and eventually led the team to the World Cup (The fact that he was the manager during Mexico's defeat the U.S. in the World Cup seems to be unimportant).

With all that said, could we be seeing the end of the Eriksson experiment in Mexico? Not only would the alarms be sounding south of the border, but it would also be exclamation point to what has been failure after failure for the current administration.

If Eriksson is sacked, that means Mexico is down six points to Costa Rica, most likely six points to the United States. It could be too little, too late, regardless of who comes to run the Mexican National team.