Mexico has a harder group than we thought
Saudi Arabia gave Mexico an early gift by upsetting Argentina. But El Tri couldn't taking advantage, settling for a tie in a now-stacked group.
Photo credit: Reuters
If I told you Mexico would be ahead of Argentina in the Group C standings after one match, it’d be all rainbows and sunshine for me. But it didn’t turn out exactly as planned.
Argentina, in one of the biggest upsets ever, lost their opening match to Saudi Arabia 2-1. Saudi Arabia is atop the group standings right now. Yeah, who would have thought?
Mexico had its chance to win the game
Mexico did better than expected but only gained a point in a 0-0 draw against Poland. San Memo Ochoa shined once again, saving Robert Lewandowski’s late penalty that would have given Poland the win. Ochoa deserves a statue–the man puts his team on the back every four years. If only Ochoa could save penalties for Club América.
OCHOA BLOCKS LEWANDOWSKI'S PENALTY FOR MEXICO 😱🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/j9qO1Sodyt
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 22, 2022
Sure, Mexico got the point, but the group has turned upside down. For starters, this was a very winnable game for Mexico. They played better in the first half than Poland, and the second half was quite even. Poland’s only real scoring threat was when they were awarded a penalty. Lewandowski, who all pundits thought was an x-factor, was a non-factor most of the game.
Same old shit
Alexis Vega was Mexico’s best player, creating chances, running up and down the field, and trying his best to break the deadlock. Chucky Lozano is always a threat, and Luis Chavez showed why European clubs are interested in his services.
WHAT IT MEANS 🇲🇽🥺 Alexis Vega in tears during Mexico’s National Anthem 🎶 pic.twitter.com/Q48yL611dN
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) November 22, 2022
This match also proved every El Tri supporter’s point: Santi Giménez should have gone to Qatar. Henry Martín wasn’t very good as the starting striker, as he just doesn’t gel well with the national team. Hector Herrera should be in a club far away from Qatar. Everyone knew this would happen, but Tata outranks us all.
Mexico still worries me due to their lack of goal-scoring. This was the problem during the qualifying cycle, and while they had some chances against Poland, they could have done more. Raul Jiménez didn’t do much coming on in the last 20 minutes. He just isn’t playing at a high fitness level, and it seems the injury is still bothering him.
Group C is a lot harder than we thought
Where does Mexico go from here? I wish I knew.
Everyone has us losing this next game against Lionel Messi’s best-ever squad, but Argentina has proven to be human. No one expected them to lose their first match in 36 games to Saudi Arabia. Part of me thinks they’ll be pissed and take it out on us. It’s hard to see La Albiceleste losing two games in a row.
And everyone thought Saudi Arabia would be an easy win, but nope, not anymore. There are definitely no slouches. So El Tri will have two tough matches against their padre Argentina and a Saudi Arabia team who has just shocked the world. It’s very difficult to see a road in which Mexico moves on with a loss. If there’s any hope to advance, Mexico needs positive results in these last two games. Sí, se puede!
