Mexico faces a tough task against France
Reporting from Johannesburg — Mexico may not have won its World Cup opener last week. But it certainly won a lot of respect.
“It’s the most daring team in the World Cup,” South African Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. “Nobody plays the way they play, with three strikers and two attacking fullbacks.”
And for better or worse, Mexico is going to play that way again Thursday when it meets France in Polokwane, four hours north of Johannesburg, in a game that will go a long way toward determining each team’s future in this World Cup.
Uruguay’s win over South Africa on Wednesday gives the South Americans a three-point lead in Group A with only next week’s game with Mexico left. That leaves the French and Mexicans needing a victory of their own Thursday to keep pace.
“This is the most important game,” said defender Rafael Marquez, who scored Mexico’s only goal in its opening draw with South Africa. “It’s crucial.”
And Mexican Coach Javier Aguirre promises the team will attack it the way it attacks every game: aggressively, even if it leaves the defense open to counterattacks.
“It’s what has brought us here and we’re not going to change,” he said. “Yes we leave a lot of space at the back. But we’re going to continue this way.”
Aguirre hasn’t been as outspoken regarding his lineup. Against South Africa, Aguirre went with experience, starting 37-year-old World Cup veteran Oscar Perez in goal and bringing 22-year-old forward Javier Hernandez off the bench late in the second half.
Aguirre refused to discuss his lineup Wednesday, telling reporters, “Wait until tomorrow for the decision. I never give it out until I tell my players.”
That doesn’t sound like a vote of confidence for Perez and it could mean Andres Guardado will return to the midfield. And if Mexico’s offense continues to struggle — it failed to finish half a dozen excellent scoring chances in the first half against South Africa — Aguirre may bring Hernandez off the bench earlier than he did in the first game.
France, which has scored only once in its last three games, including friendlies, is also looking for a way to resuscitate its comatose offense. Coach Raymond Domenech is under intense pressure at home and may have no choice but to return striker Thierry Henry and midfielder Florent Malouda to the lineup after a scoreless tie with Uruguay.
Malouda was a surprise omission from the lineup in France’s opener, and reports suggested that an argument between Domenech and Malouda in training led to his benching. The French sports daily L’Equipe weighed in on the controversy earlier this week with a front-page headline “Malouda to the rescue!” above a story in which former national team coaches argued for him to play.
Mexico, clearly, respects France’s offensive potential.
“Whenever you step on the field you forget what happened in previous games,” Mexican striker Carlos Vela said. “They have great players, a great team, and at any moment they can wake up.”
For Mexico, the problem hasn’t been so much who plays but how they play. During its long series of exhibitions leading to the World Cup, Aguirre’s team had trouble mounting much of an attack, a problem the coach remedied by sending everyone, even his defenders, on the attack.
“We know that the danger would be in the counterattack, and that’s a risk we take in our style of play so we have to be careful,” said Marquez, who damaged his right calf in the opener but says he is “100%” ready for France. He will wear the captain’s armband in the game.
“It has caused some problems,” he continued in reference to Mexico’s style.
And a few goals wouldn’t hurt either. Because despite all its emphasis on offense, Mexico still hasn’t found a way to consistently finish off its scoring chances and put the ball in the net.
“Mexico is always going to play the same way, the way we know how to play,” Aguirre said.
“But above all, when you play aggressively and you don’t have a lot of goals, you’re going to suffer.
We have to score goals, we have to be effective.”
