Mexico Defeats Little Italy
Mexico wanted a taste of Italian soccer to prepare for the heavy dose awaiting the team at the World Cup, and Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum, a group of AC Milan reserves was only too pleased to provide it.
Scheduled to face Italy in its third and final group game June 13, with a berth in the second round possibly at stake, Mexico caught a glimpse of what lay ahead during a 2-1 victory-and-survival-test before an estimated 42,000:
Lots of Italian boots, studs up, aimed at Mexican body parts.
Theatrical dives in the penalty area at the slightest flick of a Mexican foot.
Yellow cards, restarts, red cards, retreat and defend.
That’s Italian soccer, and that’s what AC Milan played, even if the actual squad sent on this barnstorm across America was, in truth, closer to B Milan. With the likes of Paolo Maldini, Rui Costa and Oliver Bierhoff already training with their respective World Cup teams, Milan was distinctly short on star power against Mexico--although it was clear, early on, that the second string was fairly familiar with the basic game plan.
Milan played with 10 men from the 14th minute on, after defender Kakha Kaladze was ejected for an aggressive challenge on Mexico forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco--moments after Blanco had given Mexico a 2-0 lead.
Milan scored its only goal on a gift from referee Ricardo Valenzuela in the 55th minute, after Mexican defender Manuel Vidrio clipped Dario Hubner in the 18-yard box. Hubner pulled a full gainer and Valenzuela went for it, whistling Vidrio for the foul and pointing to the penalty spot. Sergio Claudio Dos Santos converted to cut the deficit to 2-1.
From there, the aggression escalated, with Blanco getting clattered in the box two minutes later, only to receive no foul call, prompting Mexico midfielder Gabriel Caballero to quickly retaliate--tackling a Milan player from behind and drawing his second yellow card of the match, evening the sides.
Useful World Cup lesson learned: When the going gets tough, and it most assuredly will on June 13, return fire at your own risk.
Mexico Coach Javier Aguirre saw that his roster weathered the final half-hour without serious injury by sending on substitutes.
“It’s not easy to take on any Italian team,” Aguirre said. “They play hard, tough and [Milan] was a very serious team. We expect that we will see the same thing when we play Italy.”
Italy is the prohibitive favorite to win Group G in Japan, with Mexico, Croatia and Ecuador expected to wage a free-for-all for the other second-round berth. Mexico plays Croatia in its World Cup opener June 3.
Sunday was Mexico’s last North American warmup match, as the team travels today to Japan.
“I think the team is on a good path,” Mexico goalkeeper Oscar Perez said. “The scores in these preparation games are not as important as the confidence gained. And we felt we gained a lot of confidence today.”
Mexico, which has made a habit of starting poorly in recent matches, finally managed two first-half goals.
The first came in the 10th minute, after a blocked shot by Caballero fell to Salvador Carmona, whose soft chip found Braulio Luna unmarked at the far post for a header.
Two minutes later, Blanco made it 2-0 with a swerving 20-yard strike--followed moments later by Kaladze’s challenge and red card.
“At first, it looked like it would be an easy day for us,” Aguirre said.
It proved to be anything but. Aguirre complained about the team’s tendency to play in fits and starts--10 good minutes there, 15 lackluster minutes there--although he said he was pleased with the final 15 minutes, once all the substitutes were on the field.
“The last 15 minutes, the Mexican team dominated and showed what it can do,” he said. “This team has a great drive. We had a lot of substitutions today--and we didn’t really lose anything when we brought different players onto the field.
“I think we have 23 players that are ready to make a great run at it.”
Defender Rafael Marquez agreed.
“Physically, I think we’re all doing well,” he said. “I think we lost a little bit of our rhythm today, but we seemed to get it back toward the end.
“We know it’s going to be difficult [at the World Cup]. But we just have to go after it.”
