It was freezing cold in Belarus on Tuesday, and Mexico's performance in the Borisov Arena matched the conditions. El Tri fell 3-2 against the hosts to end their undefeated run since Brazil 2014 against perhaps the weakest side they have faced since the World Cup.
Neither the weather nor the experimental side coach Miguel Herrera put out should completely excuse what was a poor performance from Mexico to wrap up 2014 for the national team.
Here are three points from Tuesday's affair:
1. Wide gap between Mexico's first and second teams
Take out the attacking midfield duo of Hector Herrera and Andres Guardado, the presence of Rafa Marquez and Hector Moreno in defense, the threat down the left of Miguel Layun and the Carlos Vela/Javier Hernandez partnership up front and Mexico is a much weaker team.
The Belarus game highlighted that, especially coming so quickly off the back of last week's fine 3-2 victory over the Netherlands in Amsterdam.
Jesus Corona and Alfonso Gonzalez are undoubtedly talented but still raw and need time to develop, while Mexico's central defense of Luis Venegas, Hugo Rodriguez and Julio Dominguez (who moved up to midfield toward the end of the first half) didn't show much chemistry and allowed three goals -- and it should have been more -- against a team ranked 106th in the world by FIFA.
This wouldn't necessarily be a huge problem, except that Herrera is likely to send a similar reserve side to a small tournament called the Copa America in Chile next summer. With the likes of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Colombia involved, there will be no room for the defensive ineptitude Mexico displayed on Tuesday. And there's only one FIFA date between now and then.
2. Jonathan dos Santos is ready to challenge
Dos Santos' ball juggling and lofted pass over the top of Belarus' defense for Raul Jimenez to score the opener just after halftime was the highlight of a game lacking real quality.
The Villarreal midfielder has made some solid steps since moving from Barcelona last summer and has been consistently enthusiastic about returning to Mexico's squad.
On Tuesday, Dos Santos was a bright spot in a largely dire display from Mexico. He was tidy on the ball, covered a lot of ground and provided that assist. There was evidence of his upbringing in Barca's famed La Masia.
Dos Santos looks the most likely player to challenge Jose Juan "Gallito" Vazquez for the holding midfield role between now and next summer, and he has the ability to improve this Mexico team.
3. Still a work in progress
Belarus deserved to win on Tuesday. While the gulf in class in the players was evident, the Eastern European side fought, committed 22 fouls (compared to El Tri's eight) to knock Mexico off rhythm and was obviously much better at dealing with the subzero temperatures.
The same basic factors were arguably on show in Mexico's disastrous 2013, and it failed to overcome them. El Tri jumped from one poor World Cup qualifying performance to another against teams that, on paper, shouldn't have caused them any problems.
On the one hand, Mexico can compete with the top teams like the Netherlands, Chile and Brazil, while on the other, the most difficult games since the World Cup have been against Panama, Honduras and now Belarus.
It may be a problem of motivation or concentration -- a definite issue against Belarus -- but it has reoccurred with worrying consistency from a Mexican point of view and needs to be addressed.
If there was a positive, it is that the result should keep El Tri's feet firmly on the ground as they seek to move from being a team on the cusp of the world's top 20 to one that can threaten the top 10 in 2015.