Not Mexico’s Salvation

“Al mundial no vamos, pero a Mexico ganamos(To the World Cup we won’t go, but we’ll beat Mexico.”

That was El Salvador’s motto going into he game. Whether they will stay at home watching the World Cup from home on their TV’s, they’ve accomplished what they wanted for the night. Now, Mexico’s qualifying route gets tougher, but with the games at the Aztec stadium assured it’s more likely that Mexico will make it. With the showing tonight, no one would really guess that.

Tonight, El Salvador beat Mexico 2-1 in a physical game. We came close to equalizing, but in the end the second goal was taken away. While it may be easier to say that we were screwed out of many things, the truth is that Mexico defeated themselves. The taunts about swine flu didn’t really seem to affect the team as much.

Aguirre’s arrival was received with high hopes, and unrealistic expectations. Now, Mexico has(hopefully) been brought down to Earth and will be realistic in the upcoming games.

The game started out well for Mexico. In the 5th minute Arce and Guardado combined for the first chance of the game. Guardado rose up for the cross from Arce and headed the ball into the ‘keeper
’s hands, but bade well for the start.

Again in the 8th Mexico had a chance. Arce had a good shot, but his chip was wasted as he put too much force into his drive and sent to ball over the cross bar.

Although El Salvador weren’t arriving towards the Mexican area as much, it was they who scored first. In the 12th minute Rodolfo Zelaya weaved in and out between Torrado and Osorio then sent it to Martinez who scored. El Salvador were up 1-0.

During the 25th came close. Nery ‘The Brow’ Castillo and Arce combined and sent in a strong shot. The ‘keeper came out and barely managed to punch the ball and left it in a dangerous area, but no Mexican player was there to take advantage of the mistake.

As the game progressed, the Salvadorians became more comfortable and took more shots from outside the area.

Then the game became more dangerous in the 26th minute when ‘Conejo’ tried to control a cross, but it slipped from his hands. The ball went past his hands and went towards goal. Aaron Galindo rushed to save the ball and prevented El Salvador from going up 2-0.

The physical game escalated to new heights when Guille Franco and a Salvadorian player had a tousle in the area. The opposition player threw his hand across Franco’s face and Franco retaliated by throwing a side punch and drawing blood.

In the second half El Salvador came close. Zelaya came close in the 50th by weaving through the Mexican defense.

Then again in the 52nd injured Pacheco took a free kick, but ‘Conejo’ managed to save.

Finally in the 70th minute Mexico equalized. Guillermo Franco had gone into the area, but was brought down. The referee called a penalty and Blanco stepped up to take it. Blanco easily converted it and put Mexico on level terms at 1-1.

El Salvador came close again in the 75th. Zelaya rose up against the Mexican defense but it went into ‘Conejo’s’ hands.

Mexico came close in the 77th minute when Oscar Rojas let go a powerful shot, but it went wide. Had it gone straight, it would most likely have been a goal.

Then, in the 84th minute El Salvador was given a penalty. As Quintanilla came up the right side he sent in a cross. Rojas was there to block it less than a meter away, but his hand hit the ball and the penalty was given away. El Salvador scored and they were winning 2-1.

Although the game was coming to a close, Mexico kept on fighting. In the 88th minute Franco and Blanco combined. Franco had passed to Blanco who went up one on one against the goalkeeper. Blanco slid and hit the ball, watching it roll towards goal slowly. No defender managed to get back, and the second goal went in, but as soon as the celebrations started it was annulled for being offsides.

Now, the table looks like this.

Overall, the game was disappointing. Mexico had plenty of chances, but again finishing was the problem.

With the game coming up on Wednesday I almost wish that we would lose that too. Mexico’s head gets blown up after a win, and expectations are placed too high. All the losses are forgotten and the presumption of having the right to win every game comes up. With a loss at home, I think that it would more realisticly show Mexico’s problems.

Aguirre won’t be the solution. I don’t know what the solution is. He helped once, but all the factors were different during the time he came in.

Hopefully, maybe, he can work his magic once more.

The next game is on Wednesday June 10th against Trinidad and Tobago. Since it’s at the Azteca, it’s pretty much a given that we’ll win.