After being up 2-0 at the half, Mexico concedes 3 and loses their last game in front of home fans.
Mexico blew a 2-0 lead to Colombia in the second half of their friendly game ahead of Qatar 2022 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara as the final score was 2-3 in favor of the South Americans.
In front of 67,311 spectators who wished to see a good performance from El Tri before their last stretch of friendly games in Europe, fans went from ecstatic to disappointed as a superb first half went to waste. It was a tale of two halves as both teams shared dominant 45-minute blocks.
Mexico Head Coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino was disappointed with the result but claims that the second half came down to mistakes rather than Mexico changing their game. Martino also acknowledges that players like Diego Lainez “should’ve played more”.
Nestor Lorenzo, Colombia’s head coach, was proud of his team and showed much respect to his rivals. “I wish Mexico good luck at the World Cup,” he said. “They have a good squad… they can represent [the] Americas there.”
Game Recap
Mexico pressed Colombia’s defense from the get-go all the way into their box. Uriel Antuna recovered the ball and drew the foul from Luiz Diaz in the fourth minute- earning Mexico an early penalty converted by Alexis Vega.
El Tri had a firm hold on the game as their ability to draw in fouls, remain organized, and recover the ball in the midfield efficiently drowned out any attacking attempt from Colombia. Their leading element for their second goal, however, was creativity in the attack as shown by faints from Vega and Kevin Alvarez as they let the ball get to Gerardo Arteaga- who slotted it home to make it 2-0 in the 29’.
Colombia would only cement themselves into the game later in the first half after maintaining most of the possession. They managed to push Mexico back in the second half.
Luis Sinisterra was subbed on for Radamel Falcao at the start of the second half and proceeded to head in his first goal at the 49’ off a corner and convert his second just three minutes later. Mexico had blown their lead and what was once a Mexican-dominated game was flipped on its head.
To Tata Martino’s credit, changes were made very quickly but nothing was enough to tip the momentum back in Mexico’s favor. Colombia showed more drive to get their third- which came from a rocket volley from Wilmar Barrios assisted by Rafael Borre (68’).
The final score of 3-2 in favor of Colombia leaves Mexican fans with a bitter taste while Colombian fans are hopeful that they can go to the next world cup as a powerhouse.
Mexico’s next games will be against Iraq and Sweden while Colombia misses the World Cup but hopes to rebuild their once-powerful squad.