"I don't think I learned much in Mexico, it's a political minefield", he said to a small group of journalists after a training session."What I learned is not to have a job where politics is so important"..."In Mexican soccer, the board of directors of the federation is made up of the owners of the clubs in the first division and they make it a bit complicated, I had half of them against me from the beginning".
I don't doubt that the politics of the Mexican job are tricky, and that many of the club owners were not fans of Sven-Goran. But political acumen wasn't the primary attribute that he was lacking, it was success. Sven-Goran's teams were horrible. They finished second in the penultimate round of World Cup qualifying, an embarrassing result that culminated in a loss to Jamaica, a draw with Canada, and a loss to Honduras in the team's final three games. In the final round, Sven-Goran had them on pace to miss out on the tournament before he was sacked, having overseen a Mexican shellacking by both the US and Honduras. Eriksson didn't win a single game on the road in World Cup qualifying: indeed, against the decidedly not overwhelming Concacaf competition, Sven-Goran's Tri secured only a point in five tries outside of Mexico. Regardless of whether you arrive as a beloved hero or a suspicious foreigner, that kind of performance will have you packing your bags.
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