Mexico Says Bye to Opponent, 5-0

Mexico’s first-round bye in the 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup resulted in a 5-0 triumph over St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday night, a final score sure to have them dancing in the Lesser Antilles and grumbling about Bora Milutinovic south of the border.

St. Vincent, which is not a hospital-sponsored team but an island cluster in the Caribbean Sea with an estimated population of 100,000, came to the United States in hope of playing two Gold Cup games, scoring a goal and perhaps holding Mexico to fewer than 11.

That was how St. Vincent ended its run through the 1994 World Cup qualifying tournament--an 11-0 loss to Mexico--and another double-digit defeat seemed feasible when the teams met again Thursday at Jack Murphy Stadium.

Mexico, defending champion of the Gold Cup, pretty much toyed with St. Vincentin between the boxes, but repeatedly lost interest once the ball had been moved near the goalmouth. Squandering several chances, Mexico led 2-0 at halftime and didn’t score again until the 70th minute, when substitute Ricardo Pelaez scored his first of two goals.

After that, St. Vincent’s forever-scrambling defense began to sag and Mexico finally took advantage with a goal in the 80th minute by Agustin Garcia and another by Pelaez in extra time.

A crowd of 15,352 watched St. Vincent keeper Fitz-Gerald Bramble turn cartwheels in the first half--leaping, tumbling, diving, sliding and rolling to blunt repeated attacks. Bramble made 10 saves in the first half alone. Mexico keeper Jorge Campos, by comparison, faced no shots in the first half and was not required to make a save until the 55th minute.

Pelaez and Luis Garcia scored two goals each for Mexico, now 2-2-1 in Milutinovic’s second stint as coach following his dismissal as U.S. coach. Garcia scored on a header off a corner kick in the 29th minute and again in the 37th minute--finishing a pass from Cuauhtemoc Blanco that bounced all the way through the box, between the legs of Mexico midfielder Joaquin Del Omo and found Garcia all alone outside the far post.

St. Vincent kept the crowd amused with its helter-skelter defensive chases and occasional forays into the Mexican half of the field. St. Vincent failed to put a ball in the net, but one of its players, striker Rodney Jack, put his leg through it, requiring nearly two minutes and a couple trainers to untangle it.

Just after the second half kickoff, Campos succumbed to one of his noted fits of wanderlust and left the 18-yard box to attempt to run down a long, errant St. Vincent pass. But Campos misjudged the ball and let it skitter past, where Jack had a free run to the net.

But Jack had trouble collecting the ball and Campos hustled past, forcing Jack to the near post. Now cornered at a difficult angle, Jack wasn’t sure if he should shoot or pass. The result was an awkward cross across the box, with no other St. Vincent player in the vicinity, and Jack ramming his left leg through the webbing of the net.

That was the closest St. Vincent came to scoring until the 55th minute, when a header by Ezra Hendrickson forced Campos to leave his feet for his first save of the night, one of only two necessary in 90 minutes.

Mexico (1-0) next plays Guatemala at Jack Murphy Stadium on Sunday afternoon. St. Vincent (0-1) is scheduled to play Guatemala on Tuesday at Anaheim Stadium.

CONCACAF Gold Cup

THURSDAY’S RESULT

* Mexico 5,

St. Vincent and the Grenadines 0

TONIGHT’S SCHEDULE

At Coliseum

* Brazil vs. Canada, 5 p.m.