Aguirre - trying to keep his players upbeat. (Allsport)

By John Skilbeck and Cindy Garcia-Bennett, PA International

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Javier Aguirre has turned his hand to a little amateur psychology in preparation for Mexico's World Cup bid.

Aguirre, who donned the green, red and white as a player when Mexico hosted the finals in 1986, believes getting inside the minds of his underachieving players can spur them on to success.

The Mexicans were close to World Cup elimination when Aguirre took charge of the side last June and it took four wins and a draw from their final five CONCACAF group games to take them to the finals.

Mexico also reached the final of the Copa America and, despite a disappointing Gold Cup campaign, Aguirre feels they are capable of stepping up and making their mark in the Far East.

Aguirre, whose side's route to round two is blocked by Ecuador, Croatia and Italy, said of his players: "Technically they are good.

"But on a mental level they need to believe in themselves more. I won't use a psychologist, so I'm going to take on that task because the players don't believe in psychology.

"That is an area I'm going to have to work very hard on."

Aguirre, nicknamed 'El Vasco' because of his Basque descent, made an instant impact after taking the job.

There was almost a Copa America title to toast in his third month, on top of the early successes in World Cup qualifying, but defeat by Colombia in the final meant that was not to be.

Brazil, Uruguay and Chile were all put to the sword by Aguirre's bravehearts, but his goals for this summer are more restrained.

"My first objective is to reach the second round," he explained.

"It seems to me to be a group that could spring a surprise because Croatia could do anything, because they reached the semi-finals in their only World Cup appearance at France 98, had a good European Championship, and are a team able to play good football - or suddenly not so.

"Italy are a team aiming for the title, and I remember in 1994 some said Italy hadn't done well and they were finalists. They say they always start World Cups poorly and finish on top."

Aguirre took on his current role following the sackings of Manuel Lapuente and Enrique Meza during qualifying.

With a hard-earned reputation in Mexico as a disciplinarian, he was assistant to Miguel Baron at USA 94 and learned his trade on the backroom staff at Real Madrid.

The Under-23 national team benefited from his guidance at the Pan-American Games in 1995, where they finished runners-up, and several of that squad are central to his current plans.

The 43-year-old has only trained two Mexican top-flight teams; Atlante and Pachuca who he took to the winter title in 1999.

Mexican champion as a player with America in 1984, Aguirre ended his playing career with Spanish side Osasuna.

The Gold Cup quarter-final disappointment came as a wake-up call for Aguirre, who concedes that the World Cup's last eight may be a stage too far for the current players.

"We are not going to be World Cup champions," he said. "My first objective is to reach the second round.

"The most important thing is that we did enough to qualify."

If such talk is meant to inspire, perhaps Aguirre should take a longer look at those psychology manuals.