Former Mexico striker Hugo Sanchez has put his name forward to succeed Ricardo Lavolpe as the Tricolor's national team coach and vowed to guide them to the quarter-finals at South Africa 2010.

Mexico bowed out of this year's World Cup in the second round after a 2-1 extra-time defeat by Argentina, which Sanchez says "hurts a lot."

The former Real Madrid goal-getter is strongly opposed to Argentinian-born Lavolpe leading the Mexico team and believes they could have done better in Germany.

Now he has signalled his desire to take on the job himself.

"I'm ready, young and with the suitable mentality, so I can take our team to a place among the best eight teams in the next World Cup," said Sanchez.

"I'm strongly convinced that a national team coach should be born in the same country he coaches.

"In Brazil, Germany or Argentina, it would be unbelievable that a foreign boss could do that job.

"I'm sure that, with that team, we could have gone further," he added. "To reach the quarter-finals would have been a very important point for Mexico."