Jose Manuel "Chepo" De La Torre has been ratified as head coach for Mexico's National Team this afternoon despite a string of poor performances that had Mexican soccer fans asking for his resignation.
On Monday afternoon, Chepo attended a meeting at the home of the president of the Mexican Soccer Federation in the south of Mexico City with other members of the Federation to decide the future of the National Team and whether or not he would remain in his post.
Mexican media and social networks were filled with rumors all afternoon as to what the fate of De La Torre was. ESPN reporter John Sutcliffe falsely tweeted that Chepo had been fired before there was any confirmation, which set of a flurry of reports indicating that he had already been replaced by Tomas Boy.
Altough no official announcement had been made as to whether Chepo will continue as head coach, the Vice President of Pachuca Football Club Andres Fassio, who was in attendance at the private reunion, confirmed that Chepo is still the head coach and that the members of the Federations committee had decided to support his process. Fassio said he was confident that Mexico would improve on its playing and that they would get the pass to the World Cup.
Sutcliffe later erased the original tweet and issued an apology. The reporter said that a source had given him wrong information and that he was sorry for the honest mistake.
The move to keep Chepo as the head coach for the National Team was immediately met with backlash and harsh criticism from internet users who took to Twitter to vent their frustration at the perceived poor choice.
"Chepo has to be the most undeserving coach of all international soccer right now, amazing that he is still there," tweeted one user.
"If we r struggling to qualify, how can we expect a good performance at the World Cup? A ridiculous choice!" tweeted another.
The Mexican team has until September, when it will play the final four games that will decide whether or not the team will go on to play the Brazil 2014 World Cup, to improve.
Mexico will again play group rivals Honduras, United States, Costa Rica and Panama during the months of September and October.