Hugo Sanchez was finally canned by Mexico yesterday, ending one of the worst periods for the Mexican national team that I can remember. Finally, after underachieving in the Gold Cup, failing to qualify for the 2008 Olympics and going winless against the USA, he is gone.

It was clear to almost any observer that Sanchez was a meathead who took Mexico back since they canned Ricardo LaVolpe. After years of undermining LaVolpe at every turn and beating his chest that “he could do it better,” Sanchez was frankly a bad coach and leader of the Mexican program. He never seemed to have any clear plan, careening between playing the young players like Castillo, Dos Santos and Vela and sometimes reverting to older standbys like Bautista, Zinha, and Borgetti.

Of course this is bad news for American supporters whose largest rival will likely have a competent coach again. Luis Bueno says the Mexican press is suggesting Luiz Felipe Scolari, Marcello Lippi, Carlos Bianchi and Jose Pekerman are all candidates for the job. Scolari and Lippi seem unlikely to take the position but if Mexico tries to throw enough money at the problem, who knows what will happen?