MEXICO CITY, Sept 13: Mexico’s football federation named their third manager in less than a week on Thursday, hoping Victor Manuel Vucetich, alias “King Midas,” will use his golden touch to rescue their World Cup bid.

The former Monterrey coach has two qualifiers left to reverse his country’s fortunes.

Back-to-back defeats to Honduras and the US have left Mexico in fifth place in the six-team CONCACAF regional group, from which only the top three qualify with the fourth-placed team advancing to a play-off against New Zealand.

Failing to make it to next year’s tournament would be traumatic for a football-mad nation that has watched “El Tri” play in 14 of the 19 previous World Cups and had high hopes for a team packed with talent such as Manchester United’s Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.—AFP