Sports
Commentary: Copa América loss to Venezuela is a new low for Mexico's national team
Just when you thought Mexico’s soccer team couldn’t sink any lower, El Tri takes out a shovel and tunnels a little deeper.
The latest excavation project took place Wednesday when Mexico dug itself a hole it may not be able to climb out of in an embarrassing 1-0 Copa América loss to Venezuela before a disappointed pro-Mexican crowd of 72,773 at SoFi Stadium. Drawn into a group with Jamaica, Ecuador and Venezuela, none of which are ranked inside the top 30 in the world, the bare minimum — the minimum — Mexico had to achieve in the tournament was to finish in the top two and advance to the knockout stages.
With Wednesday’s loss, Mexico may not be able to clear even that low bar. If it doesn’t win Sunday’s group-play final against Ecuador, El Tri’s Copa América is over. Venezuela, meanwhile, is on to the next round.
“The situation is clear. We need to win the next game,” midfielder Luis Romo said. “It’s a knockout match.”
With the World Cup returning to Mexico in less than two years, the national team program is in tatters and the panic in the country’s soccer federation is real. It took years of neglect and mismanagement at all levels of Mexican soccer for the national team to fall to this level, so it’s unrealistic to think things can be fixed in 23 months.
But that’s all Mexico has before the World Cup kicks off in Mexico City.
The decline began six years ago in Russia, where the average age of Mexico’s team was just a few months under 30, making it the second-oldest roster in the World Cup. Mexico beat defending champion Germany in its opener, then limped into the round of 16 where it lost to Brazil. But the promised post-tournament rejuvenation of the team never happened, so when Mexico went to Qatar four years later, it once again had the second-oldest team in the World Cup.
And this time it got blitzed, beating only Saudi Arabia en route to its earliest World Cup exit in 44 years. Two years later, it still hasn’t recovered and Mexico’s long-awaited youth movement is nowhere to be found.
If anything, it’s retreated.
Mexico’s U-23 team, which won a bronze medal in the last Olympics, didn’t even qualify for this summer’s Games in Paris. Mexico didn’t qualify for last year’s U-20 World Cup either and won just once in four games in the U-17 tournament. (The women’s team, meanwhile, hasn’t played in a World Cup since 2015 or in an Olympic tournament since 2004. The collapse has been astonishingly complete.)
The talent pool that once fed Mexico’s national team has gone dry. So when 38-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and backup keeper Luis Malagón were ruled out of the Copa América with injuries, coach Jaime Lozano — more about him in a minute — did not have a goalie with more than six games of international experience to call up.
Mexico coach Jaime Lozano talks to Gerardo Arteaga during Wednesday’s Copa América match against Venezuela at SoFi Stadium.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
When forwards Hirving Lozano and the oft-injured Raúl Jiménez were ruled out of Copa, Mexico started Colombian-born Julián Quiñones, who made his first appearance for Mexico last fall, a month after becoming a Mexican citizen. On Wednesday, the high-strung Quiñones committed the foul that set up Salomón Rondón’s game-winning penalty kick.
Not only is the cavalry not coming, it doesn’t even exist. The depth that once made Mexico’s national team one of the strongest in the Americas has vanished and now El Tri is losing to Venezuela, the only South American country never to play in a World Cup.
And it’s not just losing to Venezuela, In fact, Mexico has lost four of its last six games, failing to score in three of those four losses. And it has won just half its 20 games under Lozano.
If Mexico doesn’t beat Ecuador and bows out of the Copa América after three games, it’s likely the federation will use the coach — the third in 18 months — as a scapegoat. But it’s hard to see how this is Lozano’s fault. He can only play the players the federation gives him — and at the moment those players aren’t very good.
Maybe you can blame it instead on the Curse of Chicharito. Tata Martino banished Javier Hernández, Mexico’s all-time leading scorer, from the national team 14 months after the 2018 World Cup — and a few hours after he scoring the first goal in a 3-0 win over the U.S.
Since then, Mexico has won just one trophy, hasn’t beaten the U.S. in seven tries, made its earliest World Cup exit in more than four decades, failed to qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time in 16 years and is on its way out of the Copa América after just two games.
OK, so maybe that’s not an air-tight theory. But as explanations go, the Curse of Chicharito is probably as good as any other.
What is clear, however, is that Mexico has fallen and it can’t get up. The national program is in the worst shape it’s been in decades and the federation has no road map for getting it back on track.
A win Sunday could save both Mexico’s Copa América and Lozano’s job — for the time being, at least. But it’s unlikely to solve the deeper problems, and with the World Cup fast approaching, there appears to be precious little time for the federation to complete the massive overhaul El Tri needs.
Maybe they should just bring back Chicharito. It couldn’t hurt.
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Seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry has some simple advice for Caitlin Clark: Fight back.
Horry, 55, was asked about the criticism the Indiana Fever star has gotten for complaining to the referees, and Horry said Clark needs to protect herself.
“You think about when you when you’re the best, everybody want to knock you out. And I think a lot of people are going after her and for me, just play the game,” Horry told Fox News Digital at The World Cup 2026 Kickoff Party Blue Carpet at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark waits for play to resume during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on May 28, 2026. (David Gonzales/Imagn Images)
“Some other players around the league didn’t protect themselves, and the (harassment) went on, so my best advice (for) her is protect yourself. Don’t let nobody try to punk you.”
Horry played with Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and cited him as an example of a player who fought back.
“I think I (played) with one of the greatest players (in) Shaquille O’Neal, he got hammered. I know he’s bigger and stronger than Caitlin, but he got to a point where he just started fighting back. You know, someone (elbowed him), you elbow him back.”
Clark has taken some hard fouls during her three seasons in the WNBA, with many fans wondering if the treatment from her competitors is intentional. The 24-year-old frequently pleads her case to the referees after contact, which has drawn the ire of fans who say she complains too much.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever reacts after a foul was called during the first half against the Portland Fire at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on May 30, 2026. (Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)
Fever fans at least weren’t complaining when Clark buried a game-winning 3-pointer to help secure a 78-76 win over the Washington Mystics on Monday. Clark had 19 points, five assists and three rebounds in the win.
The Fever have had a tumultuous start to the season, but are over .500 at 6-5. In 10 games, Clark has averaged 18.7 points, 8.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Horry played in the NBA for 16 seasons. He began his career with the Houston Rockets, spending four and a half seasons with them and being a key part of their championship-winning teams in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. The Alabama native was then traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he spent half a season before signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Robert Horry and Candice Horry pose on the blue carpet for the World Cup 2026 Kickoff Party at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on June 9, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Horry was a key contributor during the Lakers’ three-peat from 1999-2001 and earned his third, fourth and fifth career NBA titles. After spending seven seasons with the Lakers, Horry joined the Spurs, where he won two more championships in 2004-05 and 2006-07.
In 16 seasons, Horry averaged 7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
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This is the fourth year of the LA Card Show, and my, how it has grown.
The venue has grown larger and bolder with each year, beginning at the Mayan Theater in 2023. The Intuit Dome held the event in 2024 and Dodger Stadium in 2025. This year’s show will take place this weekend at the L.A. Convention Center West Hall.
Roughly 700 collectibles vendors are expected, almost double the number at Dodger Stadium. Food and drink will be available and the card show is open to all ages.
Pokémon cards and items continue to be the most popular to trade and purchase, according to show officials. All sorts of sports collectibles will be plentiful, with Shohei Ohtani — unsurprisingly — the most popular card, and card grading will be available on-site.
“More than just a card show, it is a cultural event built around the art of collecting,” LA Card Show co-founder Adam Derry said.
Trading Card Game (TCG) deck-building is increasingly popular, with players competing in games such as “Magic: The Gathering” using cards that represent spells, monsters and resources. Comic collectibles will also be traded and sold.
Other attractions include activations with the Clippers, Kings, Sparks and LAFC, and fashion and streetwear from HYPLAND, Holiday, Vandy The Pink and Research Vintage.
The card show will take place from 10 am. until 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday with VIP access at 9 a.m. A two-day general admission pass is $50 (VIP $100), with one-day passes $30 (VIP $50). Ages 8 and younger are free.
Sports
Knicks miraculously overcome 29-point deficit to take commanding 3-1 lead in NBA Finals over Spurs
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NEW YORK – The New York Knicks do not die.
After trailing by as many as 29, the Knicks had yet another comeback — this one perhaps the greatest of all-time, to steal a 107-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs and take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
The winning moment came at the fingertip of OG Anunoby, whose tip-in off a missed Jalen Brunson three-pointer put Madison Square Garden in an absolute frenzy.
But it sure was a grind to get to that point.
New York Knicks PG Jalen Brunson shoots over San Antonio Spurs PG De’aaron Fox in Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)
Karl-Anthony Towns was hit with two fouls in just the first 62 seconds of the game, one which the Knicks faithful were not happy with. And while there was plenty of ball left after that, the game changed from that moment.
The refs certainly did not help the case, but the Spurs opened the game on a 41-20 run, mostly while Towns was off the floor. Combine that with the team knocking down 54% of its three-pointers in the first half, and you have a 76-49 Spurs lead at halftime, and they got up to a 29-point lead.
But we’ve learned to never count out New York. As they cut the deficit to 15 to close out the third quarter, the crowd that was dying to pounce was finally alive. A slow start to the fourth put San Antonio up 20, but the Knicks went on a 13-2 run to cut it to just nine with a little less than seven minutes to go. And then it was seven with 5:15 to go.
Members of the New York Knicks celebrate their 107-106 victory against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on June 10, 2026. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
KNICKS OWNER, MAMDANI TRADE BARBS OVER CANCELED KNICKS WATCH PARTY OUTSIDE MSG: ‘DON’T WANT THE CELEBRATION’
And then it was four with 4:32 to go.
Then one with two minutes.
And then the lead with just 90 seconds left.
Pandemonium.
The Spurs hit two free throws to regain the lead with 30.3 seconds left. Yet again — it’s the Knicks.
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacts after making a three-point basket against the San Antonio Spurs during the fourth quarter of Game Four in the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on June 10, 2026. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
Then came what head coach Mike Brown dubbed the greatest play in the history of Knicks basketball.
San Antonio was unable to get a shot off the inbound, and Madison Square Garden was the loudest it may have ever been, as the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history was complete.
After the game, head coach Mike Brown dubbed Anunoby’s tip-in the biggest play in the history of Knicks basketball.
The Knicks outscored the Spurs 58-30.
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