Having held his tongue since the days when Hugo Sanchez blasted his every move as Mexico coach, Ricardo LaVolpe has finally fired back in the wake of the El Tri Legend's removal from the post.

"He criticized having gone to an Olympics and not having medaled, and because of him we're not even going," LaVolpe blared to Cancha.

"He criticized the work we did in the Confederations Cup; he said it was easy to win a Gold Cup because we are the giants of CONCACAF - and, well, he didn't even win the Gold Cup nor did he go to the Confederations Cup."

"Mexico took two steps back," he charged. "With the victories and accomplishments we had achieved, Mexico was seeded in the World Cup and now we are going to lose that."