Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said their greatest strength ahead of Sunday's World Cup clash with England is not momentum, home advantage or individual talent, but a selfless dressing room built on humility and a shared willingness to compete.
Aguirre, preparing Mexico for one of their biggest tests of the tournament against Thomas Tuchel's team, said his side's run had been shaped by players willing to put the collective first.
"We chose players who did not prioritise their individual talent, but instead put it at the service of the team; players who left their egos aside and were humble," Aguirre told reporters on Saturday.
The Mexico coach said that mentality would be crucial against an England side led by striker Harry Kane he described as powerful and technically capable.
"They are a very powerful side physically, but they also play good football," Aguirre said, adding skipper Kane, England's attacking focal point, would require collective attention rather than simply being left to Mexico's central defenders.
"Harry Kane is a world-class figure," Aguirre said. "The goals he scored at Tottenham (Hotspur), the goals he scores at Bayern (Munich), and the goals he scores for his national team are those of a top, top player in the world."
"We will try to make sure he is not comfortable on the pitch when he drops to receive, that there is always someone on him so he cannot create play."
At the other end, Mexico will lean on the experience of striker Raul Jimenez, who has spent years in the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham and knows many of the players awaiting Mexico on Sunday.
Aguirre, however, focused less on Jimenez's experience than on what he brings to the group as a person.
"He is one of the group, he helps like one of the group, he behaves like one of the group. He has no attitude of being a star."
Jimenez told reporters that facing England at the Azteca Stadium would be "a special match", but added that he had not exchanged messages with his Premier League colleagues before the game.
