Mexico’s debut in Qatar 2022 was not what they thought it would be.‘El Tri‘ had a huge domain over Poland through all the game, but it was Guillermo Ochoa, Mexican goalkeeper, their biggest hero in a tie that doesn’t give them too many hopes for this FIFA World Cup.
The Concacaf squad arrived to this tournament with a very tough task: advance through a group with Argentina, Poland and Saudi Arabia. It wouldn’t be easy for them, but the World Cup is a whole different competition and Mexico knows it.
Fortunately for them, there is a player in their roster that truly understands how this tournament has to be played: GuillermoOchoa. The Mexican goalkeeper had a great game against Poland and he was the key piece for ‘El Tri’ in a 0-0 that it is not the worse score, but neither the best for their hopes.
Hero: Guillermo Ochoa
Guillermo Ochoa in the World Cups is a totally different goalkeeper. In 2014 and 2018 he became their biggest star with huge saves and Qatar 2022 was not different for him.
Even though Mexico dominated Poland through all the game, the European squad had a great chance to win the match in the second half with a penalty kick. But Ochoa appeared in the best time possible for‘El Tri’.
Robert Lewandowski tookthe ball as Poland’s official penalty kicker. The captain vs Guillermo Ochoa in a duel between two great players from each nation that only one could win.
Club America’s goalkeeper correctly guessed the penalty. The Mexican player went to his left side, where Lewandowski was trying to get the ball into the net, and avoided the 0-1 against ‘El Tri’.
Once again, Guillermo Ochoa saves Mexico from a defeat. But unfortunately, the goalkeeper can’t score and that’s why the 0-0 stayed until the end with a very bad performance by his teammates in the attack.
Villian: Gerardo Martino
Yes, as a Mexican I know it sounds repetitive to judge Gerardo Martino, but he’s the main villian in this story. The national team’s coach was unable to set a good strategy to open a very solid Polish defense.
Mexico’s idea to score against Poland was one and only one: centers. Unfortunately, they do not have the weapons to fight against the defendersin the airas Raul Jimenez and Rogelio Funes Mori started in the bench behind Henry Martin.
Alexis Vega and Hirving Lozano, who shared the attack with Martin, were unable to shoot from outside the box and it seems like their mission was only to look for a header by Martin to score againstWojciech Szczesny.
At the end, Raul Jimenez had some minutes, but is clear thatthe Wolverhampton striker has not fully recovered from his injury. He is not in rythm and doesn’t find his place on the field as he used to do.
Final grade: B+
It is not the end of the world for Mexico. Even though they were close to the victory, they were unable to score with an offense that lacks from ideas in front of the goal.
One thing to highlight is the ball posession by ‘El Tri’. They made Poland feel very uncomfortable without the ball and that’s when they found spaces to attack, but it is the end what is failing for them.
In the second half, they gave the ball to Poland and that’s when the European squad arrived more times to Guillermo Ochoa’s box. Also, they can’t make mistakes against Argentina like they did in this game if they want to get a good result against the South Americans.
The game against Argentina will be decisive for their hopes in Qatar 2022.
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