ATLANTA -- Miguel Herrera wants Mexico to get better treatment from CONCACAF when it comes to travel at the Gold Cup.
El Tri coach's was left fuming on Monday after his team arrived at their Atlanta hotel two hours later than scheduled, after their flight was held up in New Jersey.
"The flight delay hurts us," said Herrera on arrival at the team hotel. "We thought we'd arrive at 6 and we ended up there two hours later."
"The flights are not organized," he added. "Two teams and the people from CONCACAF get on [to the plane], we're all squeezed in and the bags don't fit."
Mexico traveled on the same chartered flight as Wednesday's semifinal opponent Panama, but the sides were held up in New Jersey because they had too much baggage.
Herrera suggested the fact El Tri has sold by far more tickets than any other team in the Gold Cup should equate to better treatment, but indicated the opposite is actually true.
"What surprises me is that Mexico fills the box offices and causes stadiums to sell out, [but] in all this process they have treated us differently, they have cut certain things," Herrera said.
Herrera said Mexico's federation has paid its share of the costs for transporting the team's equipment and wants the players to be more comfortable on their flights.
"It's not that you consider yourself above the opponent, I believe everyone deserves to be equal, but if ticket sales are good, we should have more consideration for the teams, more comfort for the players," Herrera said.
The Mexico coach pointed out that the United States camp has also complained about the organization of the tournament to date.
"I say this with total endearment: It's a ridiculous tournament," U.S. captain Michael Bradley said last Friday. "Between the travel, the short turnaround between games, grass being laid over [artificial] turf, the weather -- it's a huge challenge.
"That's absolutely no excuse, because it's the same for everybody. That's not me complaining; that's just reality."
Over the four games involving El Tri at the Gold Cup, 274,046 spectators have attended, making an average of 61,762 per game. Mexico has played matches in Chicago, Phoenix, Charlotte, New Jersey and now Atlanta, and by the end of the tournament will have clocked up around 6,900 air miles (11,100 kilometers).
Wednesday's semifinal against Panama in the Georgia Dome is expected to be a 70,000-plus sell-out, with the United States playing Jamaica in the first semi earlier in the day.