Column: Friendly or not, loss to Croatia doesn’t bode well for Mexico’s coach

The last time the Mexican national team played in California, it was humiliated by Chile in the quarterfinals of the Copa America Centenario.

The 7-0 score — Mexico’s worst loss in 88 years — was greeted with apocalyptic horror back home, with ESPN’s David Faitelson saying it “could mark this generation of footballers and the national team coach.”

That seems unlikely. But after Saturday’s 2-1 loss to a young Croatian team before a crowd of 62,317 at the Coliseum, El Tri might want to think about avoiding California whenever possible.

Consider that Mexico is 0-2 in the state and unbeaten in the rest of the world over the last 10 months. Or that the team’s only two losses in the last 33 games and 24 months have come in the Golden State.

Given that, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, who became Mexico’s all-time leading scorer with his 47th career goal late in the second half, would probably do well to quiet the rumors that have him moving to Los Angeles to play for the Galaxy or LAFC.

Sure, Saturday’s game was just an unimportant friendly — albeit one that turned decidedly less friendly late in the second. The teams exchanged more pushes and shoves than shots on goal, with Croatia’s Mile Skoric getting ejected after drawing two yellow cards in a 13-minute span. The result was still one that’s likely to increase the already crushing pressure on Mexican coach Juan Carlos Osorio as he enters a busy stretch that will go a long way toward determining his future.

“If I was in another country, maybe they would allow me three defeats,” Osorio, who has lost twice in 21 games, said last month. “In Mexico, no. I learned a long time ago not to take things personally.”

Thick skin will undoubtedly be an asset given that the degree of difficulty – and the level of importance – will rise dramatically next month, with Mexico playing Honduras and the U.S. in a pair of World Cup qualifiers before heading to Russia for the Confederations Cup, a prestigious eight-nation tournament that serves as a kind of dress rehearsal for the World Cup.

Wins in both qualifiers would virtually assure Mexico a spot in next summer’s tournament in Russia and leave it well-positioned to win the CONCACAF tournament for the first time since 1998.

A strong showing in the Confederations Cup, against a field that includes Germany (the reigning world champion), Portugal (the European champion) and Chile (the team that embarrassed Mexico en route to a Copa America championship last summer) could set up a historic World Cup run for Mexico, which hasn’t reached the quarterfinals since 1986.

If Osorio’s team stumbles in either of those competitions, though, there will be more people calling for his head. Increasing the pressure on Osorio is the fact he is a Colombian coaching in a country where nationality is important.

“I don’t see it as pressure. I see it as a great, a fantastic, unique opportunity for Mexico to go forward and do something better,” said Osorio, El Tri’s 12th manager since the 2010 World Cup. Over that same span, the U.S. has had just three national team managers.

Croatia’s goals, which came about a minute apart late in the first half, were both set up by Mexican mistakes. On the first, a poor attempt at a clearance by Erick Gutierrez sent the ball forward to Croatia’s Fran Tudor on the right side of the six-yard box. Tudor then centered the ball to an unmarked Duje Cop, who had an open goal to shoot at.

On the second, Tudor anticipated Diego Reyes’ lazy back pass and caught up to the ball before it reached keeper Guillermo Ochoa, rolling the ball past the goalie and into the empty net.

Both plays underscored the challenge Osorio faces in trying to meld a disparate group of players from 15 club teams in five countries into a team. The roster Mexico used Saturday didn’t come together until last week, and the lack of chemistry was obvious — although Osorio said afterward he was happy with the team’s performance in a game he referred to “a good exercise.”

Osorio will welcome 10 more players to Mexico’s training camp over the next eight days before settling on the 23-man team he will use in the qualifiers and the Confederations Cup. And if there’s one thing, other than Osorio’s nationality, that unites Mexican fans against their coach it’s his penchant for rotating players in and out of his lineup.

So even though Mexico answered in the 87^th minute Saturday, with Hernandez nodding home a free kick from Andres Guardado at the far post for his record-breaking goal, back home Osorio’s critics were busy sharpening their long knives.

That left it to Croatian coach Ante Cacic to provide a bit of perspective.

“I think it’s a really good team,” Cacic, whose team was playing in North America for the first time, said of Mexico. “They played fast, big. They use the winger positions very well.

“I’m sure there is no fear for Mexico in qualifying for the World Cup.”

Osorio better hope so.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

Twitter: kbaxter11