World Cup? Yeah, why not?

Costa Rica 0 – Mexico 3

On paper, this was the hardest match that we would play in the entire hexagonal, even more difficult than the match against the United States. Costa Rica was in first place, demolished every team that travelled to the Saprissa (including the USA), and was at the top of the group despite being fresh off of a 4-0 loss at Honduras. They were the team to fear, and considering that we had not even won a match away throughout the entire qualification (except against Belize), the only thing to give us hope was the previous two victories against the United States.

It was a match to prove that the team really did mature since Aguirre took over. They proved us right, and in such a convincing manner that there’s even more joy since the victory on August 12. Mexico is on their way to becoming a steamroller in the CONCACAF, and achieving the qualification that took three years of changing coaches and lots of criticizing in order to get to this point.

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Lineup: Ochoa; Gringo Castro, Magallon, Osorio, Salcido; E. Juarez, Torrado, Israel Castro; Blanco (Sabah 74′), Guille Franco (Guardado 69′), Giovani (Nery Castillo 80′)

Giovani Dos Santos 45′
Guillermo Franco 61′
Andres Guardado 70′

The game wasn’t exactly the cleanest, despite both teams posing in the beginning of the match behind a sign that said “I Play Clean”. The first half could be summarized like this: good chances for Mexico, and lots and lots of fouls. There was good movement of the ball and some decent chances from Guille Franco and Blanco, and good footwork by Efrain Juarez. Costa Rica had some chances of their own, but their only true danger was from the corner kicks.

From the 45th minute on, the game can be summarized like this: Giovani Dos Santos. At the end of the first half, Gio received a ball and from outside of the box, he smashed the ball into the bottom right corner to give us the 0-1 lead. We entered the half time break with confidence and the only thing Mexico needed to do was to keep their cool.

Well, Aguirre succeeded in doing that with his pep talk. Costa Rica started strong in the second half, but the possession was still ours mostly. From two counter attacks, we scored our other two very similar goals. The first goal was thanks to Efrain Juarez’s great pass to Gio, who then passed it to Guille Franco. The second was Guardado to Gio, then Gio back to Guardado. Costa Rica was helpless at this point, and we were so on top of things and dominant that Aguirre put Nery Castillo onto the pitch for the hell of it. That says a lot.

Despite Costa Rica being considered one of the most dangerous teams in CONCACAF, not once during the entire match did they truly have any dangerous plays. In fact, they let us walk all over them by giving us space and providing shabby defense on our counter attacks. They are still a fantastic team, but the night was truly ours.

Also, Torrado and Blanco will be suspended for Wednesday’s match because of yellow card accumulation. Blanco was also wrongly carded by the ref, who gave the card to him instead of Guille Franco after a foul. He was even about seven feet from the foul and didn’t see it! Idiot.

Our remaining matches: home to Honduras and El Salvador, then away to Trinidad and Tobago. Remember this: we have only lost once at the Estadio Azteca in official matches, so assuming we can keep this statistic strong, we can win the next two home matches and qualify for the World Cup. Funny how winning this match completely flipped our doubts and disappointments upside down.

Honduras, you are next.

Gallery:

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