VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Hirving Lozano scored a goal and starred for Mexico in its 3-0 victory over Canada at BC Place on Friday and coach Juan Carlos Osorio believes the 20-year-old's career is taking off.
"His speed and ability to go past [opponents] will take him far," said the Colombian coach after the match. "Lozano has a great desire to learn with the national team."
After scoring three for Pachuca last weekend in the Liga MX match against Veracruz and netting on his official debut for El Tri, Lozano is set for a wave of attention in Mexico, but Osorio believes he can handle the pressure.
"His strength is that he is a very low-key, low profile, very down to earth [person] and I think will go very far," stressed Osorio. "Not only is he a very good player with the potential to be an outstanding player, he is also a very good human being."
Lozano was a constant thorn in the side of Canada on Friday and has excelled at youth national team level. The winger could be involved for Mexico at both the Copa America in June and the Olympics in August.
Aside from talking about Lozano, Osorio said veteran Rafa Marquez will be assessed by El Tri's medical staff after he was brought off at half-time with a right abductor injury.
The coach added Marquez would be kept in the squad if there is any chance he can play on Tuesday, when Mexico faces Canada in Mexico City.
Osorio reserved praise on Friday for full-backs Miguel Layun and Paul Aguilar and refused to accept that Canada was a weak opponent.
"We won this game with authority," he said. "I thought we were better than the Canadian team. Nevertheless, we had some rough times during the game, but we found out how to control and win this particular match."
Canada coach Benito Floro freely admitted his team was second best.
"They didn't let us think [on the ball] and combined with their quality it caused us problems," said Floro. "Mexico's superiority today was very clear."