West Ham's Chicharito believes Mexico can be proud of their efforts at the 2018 World Cup despite being eliminated by Brazil in the round of 16.
Goals by Neymar and Liverpool's Roberto Firmino saw Brazil defeat El Tri 2-0 on Sunday; a result that seem them into the quarter-finals of the competition at Mexico's expense.
Despite the loss, Chicharito reckons he and his teammate can depart Russia with pride, having beaten reigning World champions Germany and qualifying through the group stages at the tournament.
"We tried to do everything in our power in the match against Brazil," Chicharito said: "Not everything was successful, but we are leaving the World Cup with our head held high."
We tried to do everything in our power in the match against Brazil. We are leaving the World Cup with our head held high.
Chicharito
Prior to this summer's tournament, Chicharito was vocal about his dream of winning the World Cup, and although the 30-year-old has fallen short of that ambition, the Hammers striker hopes Mexico's efforts can serve to inspire each of his countrymen to follow their dreams.
Chicharito continued: "I imagined myself as the champion of the world. This wasn’t able to happen.
"I’ve always said everything happens for a reason. The qualification was a process for something better. "The most important thing is this union all of us Mexicans are showing, despite all the negative noise that unfortunately draw more attention than the positive.
"What’s important here is to show that every Mexican can break these limits that have been put on us since we were very little."
The forward, who will now enjoy a break before returning to West Ham for pre-season, is optimistic that Mexico will continue to improve and make positive changes going forward, having impressed with their style at this summer's tournament.
'We lost, we’re sad," Chicharito added. "Disillusioned, obviously, with a dream that was cut short. But Mexico continues on, Mexico is still on its feet.
"We have a lot of challenges in terms of football. We have to keep changing the mentality. People keep talking about results, but it takes a deeper mentality than a lot of people want to have."