Mexico wins its first under Sven

August 20th, 2008 | By: Andrea | 8 Comments »

FMF Today against Honduras, Mexico won its first game for South Africa 2010 WC qualifying 2-1 thanks to 2 amazing goals by Pavel Pardo.

In the first minute at the 52nd sec Gio dos Santos had a good shot. Good shots would be plentiful throughout the first half but unfortunately they would not go into the net.
In the fifth minute Salcido came close after a cross from Guardado who had a good game and terrorized the Honduran defense down the left side. During the 23rd Arce had a shot a goal but it rebounded of the post. Afterwards during the 26th min Guardado had a great shot on goal but it was kept away by the Honduran Frank Rikjaard look-a-like goalkeeper. During the 34th min Honduras scored from a set piece by Julio Cesar Leon, while Sven looked on. And in the 45+ min, Marquez too saw a shot bounce of the post.

After being down a goal Mexico responded in the 73rd minute by a cannon by Pavel Pardo who shot out from out far. Three minutes later Pardo again scored with another hard shot . This time it was a set piece but a spectacular goal just the same that left the Hondurans complaining until the ref ejected one during the 77th. Near the end Guillermo Franco missed an absolute sitter and in exasperation fell to the ground.

Luckily for Sven, Mexico was able to win his first game. The Aztecs have an incredible amount of talent and have the means to get up towards the opposition’s goal but they lack a finishing touch. Vela seemed to have many chances but not the finishing touch but as soon as he gains more experience he is sure to be a reference player for Mexico. Guardado put in a lot of good crosses and is showing how he has improved. Giovanni Dos Santos after having a good pre-season with Tottenham Hotspurs was hardly present during the game. The defense was solid in my opinion and pushed up quite a few times. The Midfield was fine as well and all that Mexico lacks is experience up front and the guts to take risks.

It was an OK game overall, one which was frustrating at times but the boys got it done. Hopefully the pattern of winning continues on September 6th when Mexico plays Jamaica away.

Tags: Mexico Team News, World Cup 2010, World Cup Qualifying

Mexico World Cup RSS Feed

del.icio.us:Mexico wins its first under Sven

newsvine:Mexico wins its first under Sven

stumbleupon:Mexico wins its first under Sven

Comments

By mane | August 21st, 2008 at 12:44 am

I watched the game and did not see anything particularly great from mexico. it seems to me that honduras losing the game more than mexico winning it. it became evident that honduras still lacks the personality to sustain the effort and david suazo was clearly frustrated at not being targeted on at least three occasions which he could have turned into at least a second goal. now the goals from mexico were indeed great goals but the mexicans should feel lucky that honduras simply couldn’t wrap it up.

Posted from United States

By asdf | August 21st, 2008 at 3:04 am

mane, a Honduras fan maybe? Mexico was clearly the better team and the game was never Honduras’s to be had. Mexico shouldn’t be happy that Honduras couldn’t wrap it up, they should be happy they came back and won a game they deserved to win. You talk about how Suazo “could” have made it 2, well Mexico “could” have made it 5. If your going to talk theoretics it goes for both teams not the one your rooting for.

The point is Suazo’s teammates weren’t good enough to get him those chances because Honduras as a team is still not at Suazo’s or Mexico’s level. I also “did not see anything particularly great” from Honduras because Mexico the team who actually had about 90% of the possession and about 10 or more shots on goal compared to Honduras’s 2 were the better team.

That’s the cold hard truth for you.

Posted from United States

By Svenalike.co.uk | August 21st, 2008 at 2:13 pm

A great start for Mexico with Sven-Goran Eriksson at the helm.
Early days for Mexico, but Svennis revitalised England’s fortunes and they only lost 5 competitive matches (2 qualifyers and 3 quarter finals – an all time record for England) during his tenure.
England and MCFC’s loss will be Mexico’s gain by the look of things and the South African World cup tournament in 2010 may be a little more “interesting” with Sven’s return to the international soccer scene?
Svenalike
Proud to “be” Sven

By Brian | August 21st, 2008 at 4:46 pm

Congratulations to Mexico and Sven-Goran Eriksson, and spectacular goals by both Leon and Pardo!

By Gabriel | August 23rd, 2008 at 1:08 am

Great!

By Scott Gunnell | August 28th, 2008 at 7:40 am

Trust in Sven and you will have a very fast paced attacking team. His typically Swedish style of management gave us (England) the best competitive record of any England manager in nearly a 100 year history of England managers.

I watched to game on MSN with a link from a Mexican friend and I felt that Mexico was very strong against Honduras for most of the game. They could have been 2-0 after 20 minutes. However, when Honduras scored, Mexico was patient and waited to score by playing their natural game rather than trying to force it. It was a very impressive free kick from Honduras so we have to give them credit.

I understand from what I have been reading that the supporters are not happy with Sven being given the job due to his lack of experience managing in a CONCACAF country league. However, please remember that the fundamental points of being a manager are no different in regards to making sure the team is happy, focused, disciplined, structured etc. He will learn from the matches he watches in the Apurtura.

Posted from England

Posted from United Kingdom