SOCCER : Mexico Tied, Real Madrid Wins in Front of 34,816
After surprising almost everyone except its own fans by reaching the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup, Mexico has languished in international soccer anonymity, the victim of its own wrongdoing.
Banished from the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and this summer’s World Cup in Italy because it used overage players in a world youth tournament, Mexico has had little chance to prove itself on the international stage.
Particularly galling for Mexico’s fans is the fact that had it not been banned by FIFA, the sport’s international governing body, Mexico almost certainly would have qualified for Italy--probably at the expense of the United States.
Instead, top international players such as Hugo Sanchez and Manuel Negrete have to sit on the sideline in June and watch while American youngsters barely out of college take part in the sport’s quadrennial extravaganza.
But Mexico is not wasting its time. Its goals are clear: Qualify for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and, above all, qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
To do so, Mexico will have to shake off the rust that has accumulated over the past few years. On Tuesday night, in the first match of an exhibition doubleheader at the Coliseum, the team looked decidely ordinary in a 1-1 tie with F.C. Cologne of the West German Bundesliga in front of a crowd of 34,816.
Even Mexico’s goal--by forward Ricardo Pelaez in the 17th minute--was more the result of hard work than of spectacular play. Mexico, in fact, showed none of the flair or inventiveness of which it is capable.
Mexico held on to its advantage until the 71st minute, when a fierce, 20-yard shot by Cologne’s Andrzej Rudy after an excellent solo run through the defense tied the score. The German team was unlucky to not win, in fact, with only a snap save by goalkeeper Adrian Chavez thwarting Dario Decoud from close range in the closing minutes.
Perhaps Mexico was saving its best for Thursday night, when it will play Spanish champion Real Madrid at 9 p.m. in the second match of another Coliseum doubleheader.
In Tuesday’s nightcap, Real Madrid, led, ironically, by Mexican national team striker Sanchez, the top goalscorer in the Spanish League for the past five years, defeated a Central American all-star team, 2-0, on goals by Adolfo Aldana and Alberto Aguila.
In another bit of irony, the Central American all-stars featured the El Salvador-born Hugo Perez, inexplicably left off the U.S. World Cup team by Coach Bob Gansler, ostensibly because he was deemed to have not yet recovered from an injury.
