Mexico Defeats Chile in Soccer, 2-1, at Coliseum
The Mexican national soccer team, preparing for its role next summer as host country for the World Cup, defeated Chile, 2-1, Sunday night before a Coliseum crowd of 36,298.
In the first game of the two-day, four-match series that comprises the Cup of Nations, the Bulgarian national team was held to a 3-3 tie by Corinthians of Brazil.
The Mexico-Chile game was a highly physical game in which a busy referee, Toros Kibritjian, expelled one player and gave five yellow-card warnings to others.
The Mexicans, led by striker Hugo Sanchez, who recently signed a $1.4-million contract with the Spanish club Real Madrid, fell behind in the 24th minute when Chilean midfielder Arturo Jauregui fired a powerful volley into the left corner of the net past goalkeeper Pablo Larios.
Mexico tied the game in the 43rd minute using a mixture of alertness and cunning. Sanchez, taking a free kick outside the penalty area, caught the Chileans by surprise and rifled a shot past the Chilean defensive wall and goalkeeper Oscar Wirth.
The Chileans felt that Kibritjian had not given them time to set up, but the referee allowed the goal to stand.
The winning goal was scored in the 67th minute when the Wirth rushed out of his net to thwart a Mexican breakaway, only to see Luis Flores chip the ball over his head and into the net beyond the reach of two converging defenders.
In Sunday’s first match, Corinthians, whose roster includes Brazilian national team striker Walter Casagrande and Uruguayan national team defender Hugo DeLeon, controlled the majority of the play.
The Paulistas pressured the Bulgarian goal and defense with regularity, but were not able to convert the majority of their opportunities. The Bulgarians, on the other hand, a well-conditioned, physical aggregation, counter-attacked quickly and were more successful in capitalizing on their chances.
The Bulgarians twice went ahead, 1-0 in the seventh minute and 2-1 in the 41st, only to see the Corinthians tie the score in the 22nd and 42 minutes, respectively.
Corinthians began the second half just as in the first, with tireless midfielders, especially Biro-Biro and Paulo Cesar, providing the drive and Casagrande harassing the Bulgarian defense with impunity.
But it was Bulgaria that scored the remainder of the game’s goals, first taking the lead in the 57th minute, then yielding the advantage by giving up an own goal 10 minutes later on an attempted clearance header that slipped under the crossbar to make the final 3-3.
The same teams will play at the Coliseum tonight, with Corinthians facing Chile in the opener at 7 p.m. and Mexico and Bulgaria squaring off at 9 p.m.
