Goooaaal! Mexican players exult
Mexico had a strategy against Germany and it led to a dramatic 1-0 victory in both team’s World Cup opener in Moscow today.
In other games today Serbia picked up critical points by beating Costa Rica 1-0 and mighty Brazil was held to a 1-1 tie with Switzerland who fouled Brazilian star Neymar at every opportunity.
But the most anticipated game was Mexico versus Germany and the pre-game betting favored the defending champions. Every spectator — at the stadium and the worldwide global television viewers– were treated to a thrilling game.
The Mexicans played a superb strategy of tight -defense and then quick counter-attacks with through passes up whenever the Germans moved up in formation to try and tie the game. Had it not been for two clear misses by Mexico and two bad bounces when there was an opportunity to set up a beat-the-goalie situation, Mexico could have scored as many as four goals.
The Germans also had many opportunities but the Mexican defense was solid and the goalkeeper was confident all the way. The German coaching staff and the players all looked stunned during the game after Mexico took the lead in the first half. The Mexican goal came from a great through pass by Javier Hernandez.
After trapping the ball, rather than rushing a shot, forward Hirving Lozano, cut back to beat a defender who was bulling in towards him from his right side before he calmly thundered a shot past the German goalkeeper’s right.
The Mexican strategy was brilliant against a German team of skilled players who seemed to be able to march the ball at will with short precise passes while shifting their positions and ever getting closer to their target which is anywhere from 30 yards away from the Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
Yet the long shots the Germans are also noted for were no
threat to Mexico today. The shots either sailed high across the cross bar or they were blocked by the forest of Mexican players who converged inside the penalty box whenever the Germans reached the 30-yards red zone.
On the other hand Germany seemed vulnerable on every Mexican possession on the German half of the field. Those possessions –half a dozen or so– were rare but on each occasion the Mexicans almost scored after skillful passing or lighting cut-backs and runs towards the goal. Often Mexico had no more than one or two players on the German half of the field for most of the game.
Mexico grabbed big points by defeating Germany today and are
well-placed to make it to the next round of play provided they don’t take matters for granted and continue to play to win.
Germany suffered a setback but look for the return of this well-oiled machine that can win games and make it into the next round.
