Mexico… Playing As A Team?!

Mexico 5 – Bolivia 1

Before the match started, I told myself “Mexico better score at least four more goals than the opposition… or else”. Thanks for listening to my inner thoughts, Mexico!

If this game could be an consolation for all of the disappointment and worry that was bestowed upon the Mexican population after the USA match, then what a hell of a consolation prize it was. When was the last time Mexico scored so many goals in a match? And really good goals to boot? It was against Peru last summer, an entertaining 4-0.

Yes, Bolivia were 10 men down and aren’t that strong of a team to begin with (second to last place in the CONMEBOL), but I don’t care. I’ll take the 5-1. As long as the victory was well deserved, which it was.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, these USA friendlies are pretty much worthless. Great job scheduling a national team match on the same day as the Champions League and Copa Libertadores matchdays! As I write this, Chivas are pounding Caracas in Jalisco. But as long as people attend the matches and the FMF makes their money, these matches will keep on happening. Who’s B team are you excited to face next? Equatorial Guinea? Gambia? Woo!

Worthlessness and importance aside, you can’t say no to a 2 hour dosage of El Tri on a boring Wednesday evening. Can’t say no to 5 goals either.

Alineación Inicial:

Ochoa; Oscar Rojas, Leobardo López, Julio César Domínguez, Fausto Pinto; Gerardo Torrado, Leandro Augusto, Fernando Arce, Jagger Martínez; Omar Bravo, Vicente Matias Vuoso

Highlights:

The match was nothing less than really good shooting practice. Vuoso scored a solid goal in the opening moments of the match. Afterwards, it was just runs down the flanks for Mexico and missed shots.

Then, there was a bad tackle on Vuoso, which was a straight red. Who cares about the ref’s decision to give the Bolivian defender the red card. It was a harsh tackle and Vuoso was lucky not to have gotten even more hurt. The commentator should have shut the hell about “refs that have never touched a ball in their life”. Just be quiet and don’t give your opinion, moron. At least it gave us a free kick opportunity, which Leandro scored like a champ. 2-0 thanks to the naturalizados.

The rest of the first half was just missed chances. Arce, then Bravo, then Bravo again. Even if we were 2-0 up, it hurts most when we see missed chances from Mexico. It reminds you of missed chances against more important opponents in the past, such as Honduras and USA. The great flop of the match was Omar Bravo, who was inches away from scoring a few sitters. Apparently Europe didn’t help much, or the lack of activity made him SLOW. The only way they could have made up for the missed chances was to score a bunch more goals. And they did.

The scoring resumed in the second half, with a really nice shot by Vuoso again with his weak foot. It was 3-0 and the game wasn’t turning out to be so bad after all. I was actually glad to have fixed my crappy antenna to be able to flip on Telemundo.

Then, Bolivia scored their goal, and if the Leandro goal was awesome, then this one was absolute genius. I’d almost say that it was Messi-like. The Bolivian striker faked out three defenders and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner. Very good goal, but 3-1 wasn’t good enough. The fourth goal was a penalty scored after a player was brought down in the box. This was probably the funniest foul that I’ve seen in a long time. It looked like a bad sex position. Alright, I’ll grow up now.

My favorite moment was the last but not least important goal of the match. Very good run down the center from Rojas and a well-controlled shot by Cardenas was enough to seal the match. What a better way to debut for the national team for the Pachuca forward, with a great goal to boot.

We won’t be winning awards and praise after matches like these, but is it good to see El Tri dominate a puny friendly match? Hell yeah it is! What I loved most is that it wasn’t a bullshit win like the one against Ecuador for example, it was a good display of teamwork. Maybe those players from this match that get to play against Costa Rica could use the confidence boost, but as a supporter I’m happier than anything to see Mexico dominate a match again.

It’s a foreshadow towards better days. Those days will be here soon, but there’s still lots of work that needs to be done.

Gallery:

Arce: MY FACE!!!