FOOTBALL WORLD

zondag 12 augustus 2012

Mexico wins gold medal!

Brazil 0-2 Mexico
Dos Santos and Hernandez on target against youthful Seleção
Mano Menezes side failed to make the most of their possession as La Verde put in a stalwart defensive display whilst remaining threatening on the counterattack


Mexico ended a run of eight consecutive friendly wins for Brazil with a famous 2-0 victory at Cowboys Stadium.

Giovani Dos Santos opened the scoring against what is believed to be the Brazilian side that will start this summer's Olympic Games with a fortuitous chip. Javier Hernandez then added the second from the penalty spot after some slack defending from the Selecao. From then on Brazil struggled to forge opportunities to score and the Mexicans remained watertight at the back to secure the win.

Brazil assumed control of the ball in the opening stages with the combination of Marcelo and Neymar looking lively down the left flank. With 10 minutes played the Selecao got in behind as Leandro Damiao finished off Hulk's ball over the top, only to see the goal ruled out for a debatable offside decision.

Mexico were breaking at speed when they won back the ball and it was such a move that saw them take the lead in the 22nd minute. Pablo Berrera's raking 40-yard pass switched the play to Dos Santos on the left of the box where he was stood up by Danilo. He worked a yard of space to clip the ball towards the back post which it ended up bouncing off of and into the net.

La Verde were in the ascendancy as they continued to threaten on the counterattack and they earned a penalty soon after. After stray pass in the area Juan was overzealous in his attempts to retrieve the ball and he brought Dos Santos down. Hernandez stepped up and converted from 12 yards to double his side's lead in the 33rd minute.

Brazil had little to show for all their possession due to some good pressing and Jose Corona was forced into his first save just three minutes before the break. Oscar's swerving 25-yard strike was heading for the top corner but the keeper dived to his left and parried the effort away.

Mexico continued to impress with their high pressing and they forced another error at the back. A misplaced pass was pounced upon by Jorge Torres but Sandro got back to make a fantastic block on Jesus Zavala's shot, with Hernandez was unable to poke in the rebound.

In an attempt to add more attacking guile to his side Menezes brought Alexandre Pato and Lucas Moura on to replace Leandro Damiao and Sandro. However, La Verde remained resilient in defence and a deflected volley from Lucas and a stinging long-range free kick from Hulk were the only threats provided by Brazil.

They continued to gain momentum and after Juan saw his 74th-minute volley saved by Corona, Rafael diverted Hernandez's effort away from goal after another break. The action continued as Hulk found space on the left and put it on a plate for Pato to tap in but his connection was awful as he failed to convert.

Clear-cut chances remained elusive and Brazil will now look towards next week's friendly against Lionel Messi's Argentina while Mexico will begin the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign on the same weekend.


Source: goal.com

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