Mexico fire coach after World Cup loss to Honduras

Reuters, Saturday 7 Sep 2013

Mexico announce sacking their coach Jose Manuel "Chepo" after the 2-1 loss to Honduras in the World Cup qualifiers

Jose Manuel
Mexico's head coach Jose Manuel de la Torre gestures from the sidelines at a 2014 World Cup qualifying match with Honduras in Mexico City, Friday, Sept. 6, 2013.

Mexico coach Jose Manuel "Chepo" de la Torre was fired on Saturday, a day after a painful loss to Honduras which dented their hopes of qualifying for next year's World Cup.

Justino Compean, president of the Mexican Football Federation, fired de la Torre and replaced him with Luis Fernando Tena, according to a statement on the federation's website.

Mexico suffered only their second ever World Cup qualifying defeat in the Azteca Stadium with a 2-1 loss to Honduras on Friday. Mexico sit in fourth place in CONCACAF region standings, outside the automatic qualification slots.

De la Torre has been under fire since Mexico lost two of its three games in the Confederations Cup in June for an early exit. Mexico then failed to defend the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States in July. Mexico had won the last two Cup tournaments but were upset by Panama.

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