Mexico’s national soccer team manager Javier Aguirre announced on June 30 that he has resigned from his position. The announcement comes just three days after Mexico were knocked out of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa following a 3-1 loss to Argentina in the playoff round. It was the fifth straight time that the country has failed to advance past the round of 16.

Mexico placed second in Group A during the tournament with four points following a 1-1 draw with South Africa, a 1-0 loss to Uruguay and a 2-0 win over France. They advanced to the next round due to a better goal difference than South Africa.

The 50-year-old Aguirre took over in April 2009 from ex-England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson as the team was in serious danger of missing the World Cup under Eriksson’s guidance. Aguirre stated to a news conference in Mexico City that it was clear to him that he is the one to blame and believes the right thing to do is resign. He added that it’s the honest and fairest thing to do.

Aguirre also managed the team in the 2002 World Cup where Mexico were knocked out by the USA in the round of 16. He also guided the country the CONMEBOL Copa America final in 2001 where they were defeated to host nation Colombia in Bogota.

The best result for a Mexican team came at the 1970 and 1986 World Cups when they made the quarterfinals. Both of those tournaments were held in Mexico however. Aguirre was Mexico’s fourth manager in the last four years and was the fifth since Ricardo La Volpe of Argentina was let go following the World Cup in 2006.

It has been reported that Aguirre was among the best paid national team managers as he earned about US $4million a year. It’s believed that only Italian manger Marcelo Lippi, and England’s Fabio Capello are paid more.

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