Mexican Press Reports

[Scotty]

Translated from EsMas:



Mexico's first slip in the Hexagonal: The U.S. imposes their will 2-0 in the "Cold War"

Mexico’s road to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa began with an uphill climb. Without showing a great superiority on the field, the U.S. defeated Mexico 2-0 in the long-awaited opening game of the Hexagonal.

The goals of the Stars and Stripes’ team were the work of Michael Bradley; the first at the 42nd minute on a corner kick in which the Mexican defense completely lost their concentration, and the second at the 91st minute on a shot from distace that Oswaldo Sanchez made a hash of.

Mexico showed good things at the beginning, with many touches from the midfield to their forwards, Nery Castillo, Giovani dos Santos and Carlos Ochoa. But as is by now customary for the Mexican team, they failed to finish their chances. Castillo left the game at the 33rd minute through injury, and his place was taken by San Luis midfielder Israel Martinez in a move that had no effect, neither good nor bad, on the development of the game.

Eriksson's team was a bit more organized than in previous contests, but at the same time they faded and could not connect on the field. After the expulsion of Márquez for his irresponsible studs-up challenge on Tim Howard, it became even more difficult to get near their rival’s goal.

Eriksson tried to change the outcome of the game by subbing in Sinha and Omar Bravo, but there was no one to accompany Ochoa up top. The Chivas striker fought harder than anyone on the field, but his efforts proved futile.

The job done by Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres was deficient because, although he correctly sent off Márquez, he failed to whistle a penalty for a foul on Giovani in the previous play.

The United States won the "Cold War" for its better overall game. Mexico showed desire and a good attitude, but they once again proved that they lack hard work and discipline. It was a sputtering start to the Hexagonal, and now they must think about Costa Rica, their next opponent in the qualifer who will visit the Azteca Stadium on March 28th.

http://www.televisadeportes.com/futbol/futbolinternacional/partidos/040186/estados-unidos-mexico-eliminatoria-mundial-2010

[Clint Eastwood]

"The job done by Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres was deficient because, although he correctly sent off Márquez, he failed to whistle a penalty for a foul on Giovani in the previous play."

I watched the ESPN deportes post-game show and they made a big deal of this. I didn't really see it as a penalty at the time. What they're talking about is the Pardo free-kick that Gio tried to direct into the goal from inches away. You can make a case that he was being held by the defender (Pearce was it?) I think it's a bit of a stretch, but we've seen penalties called for less. Then they made the point that if that penalty gets called properly, then Marquez never gets sent off in the subsequent play. Well........duh. Although, to be fair, the vast majority of commentators agreed that Marquez deserved the red. And they all agreed that the US was a better team on the night, and deserved the victory. They were especially hard on the anemic Mexican attack. The truth, they said, was that there are very few good attacking options out there for them right now. Ochoa's a decent player, but not world class. Vela must come thru, or they look very thin at forward in the next several years.

[peledre]

Wow, even the Mexican press is admitting that Marquez challenge was stupid.

[DCFAN96]

I watched the ESPN deportes post-game show and they made a big deal of this. I didn't really see it as a penalty at the time. What they're talking about is the Pardo free-kick that Gio tried to direct into the goal from inches away. You can make a case that he was being held by the defender (Pearce was it?) I think it's a bit of a stretch, but we've seen penalties called for less. Then they made the point that if that penalty gets called properly, then Marquez never gets sent off in the subsequent play. Well........duh.

Well if they wanna play that card, the "foul" that set up that free kick in the first place was just as bad of a call, everyone in our group had no idea why Duece got called for that foul.....oh well whats done is done. If they wanna look for more excuses then can go ahead and do that.

[diablodelsol]

If Gio touches that ball he's offside.

[tomwilhelm]

That might be the most even handed Mexican press report I've ever seen.

[Scotty]

Translated from Medio Tiempo:



Impotence and mocking combine and end in a fight

Failing to defeat their hated rival provoked feelings of impotence in some members of the Mexican team, but most of all, the mocking from U.S. player Frankie Hejduk at end of the game sparked a small fight.

When Carlos Batres blew his whistle to end the game Hejduk started celebrating in an angry manner, which compelled Sven-Göran Eriksson’s technical assistant Paco Ramírez to approach and face off with him.

Moments later Guillermo Franco joined in the fray, causing security members to intervene and break up the ruckus.

Regarding this, Franco denied having hit the U.S. player, but said Hejduk’s attitude was stupid.

"No, I didn’t hit him or anything, it just grabbed him by the arm and spoke with him. I didn’t approach to fight or start anything at all. Then other players came, including the coach, and I explained that they had beaten us but that the stupid behavior from this guy wasn’t necessary. That’s simply all I said, but there were no punches thrown."

What did he say to you when you approached him?

"He looked at me and started nodding his head that I was right," he added.

http://mediotiempo.com/noticia/74601/las-burlas-y-la-impotencia-terminaron-en-bronca/

[Mr. Warmth]

Regarding this, Franco denied having hit the U.S. player, but said Hejduk’s attitude was stupid.

"No, I didn’t hit him or anything, it just grabbed him by the arm and spoke with him. I didn’t approach to fight or start anything at all. Then other players came, including the coach, and I explained that they had beaten us but that the stupid behavior from this guy wasn’t necessary. That’s simply all I said, but there were no punches thrown."

What did he say to you when you approached him?

"He looked at me and started nodding his head that I was right," he added.


http://www.univision.com/content/video.jhtml?cid=1835856&channelName=Videos&_requestid=33419

Umm, no Franco, you didn't hit him, Paco the Tijuana Mule did.

[Nutmeg]

Yeah, here in Mexico a lot is being made of Pearce's takedown of Gio. Frankly, it could have been called, but I think Gio was going down anyway to strike the ball. And, in the rebound, Gio flat out flubbed it by staying on his ass. Any attempt to get up would have led to a simple tap in. The sideline ref didn't call an offside. Mexico has nothing to bitch about.

[gnk]

i am assuming Franco spoke without realizing it was video-taped. who had that camera?

[USArsnl]

Love how they lost because they were bad, and not because we were good.

Kids, this is what delusion looks like.

[Master O]

Love how they lost because they were bad, and not because we were good.

Kids, this is what delusion looks like.

It's World Cup Qualifying. Teams have to put up or shut up.

America put up. Mexico shut up.

[aveslacker]

If Gio touches that ball he's offside.

I don't think I've read anyone say this anywhere else, but it's a pretty clear offside to me. In fact, on replay, I thought Gio had touched the ball, in which case he should have been whistled for it. Ironically, that would have meant that Marquez wouldn't have had an opportunity to put his studs into Howard.

[Scotty]

Translated from Medio Tiempo:



Oswaldo says that the ball did something strange

He had already saved some shots. Even on the first U.S. goal Oswaldo Sánchez managed to block the shot with his body at point blank range, although the ball unfortunately fell straight to an opponentl.

However, the Santos Laguna goalkeeper stated that on Michael Bradley’s second goal the ball came right towards his body, but at the last second the wind changed its trajectory.

"On the first goal there was a defensive breakdown on the marking. And the second goal was a shot that went directly to where I was, but when it was time to dive for it the ball did something strange and ended up dropping down. So sometimes the unpredictable factors don’t go our way," said Sánchez.

For the player, the result of this first game of the Hexagonal was unfair because the goals came from two isolated plays.

"We must maintain confidence to know that we are on the right track. That today we lost, I think unfairly, and that we have to keep working.

"We feel good. I think that we simply weren’t able to maintain the rhythm that we started with, and the last two slips were goals," he added.

Why do we lose to the United States?

"I wish I knew. Today we were doing well and it turned out that bad luck ended up as goals against us," he replied.

What is that feeling among the team right now?

"It hurts. We are hurting for all the people who are hurting in Mexico. But believe me, and I tell you frankly, this defeat hurts us more than anybody," he said.

Like his coach, Oswaldo acknowledged the fact that Rafael Marquez decided to apologize for getting sent off and leaving his team with 10 players.

http://www.mediotiempo.com/noticia/74602/oswaldo-dice-que-la-pelota-le-hizo-un-extrano/

[Dave216J]

It's a penalty in the Azteca. Neutral site, maybe, but probably only 25% of the time.

I'm more amazed that a) they viewed the red card as appropriate (actually, in the bar I watched it in, most were surprised by it, and had it been yellow, I don't think a single US fan would have complained), and b) they felt the US outplayed them.

[dban]

Again, they lost "unfairly". It must be a cultural thing, my experience is that a loss is a loss is a loss, you accept it and move on. They will just never accept losing to the US.

We're still in their heads, and it appears we won't be leaving soon. For that I am grateful.

[aveslacker]

It's amazing how Sanchez takes absolutely no responsibility for his mistakes. The wind blew it? O RLY?

Although, to be fair, he did have a couple of good saves in the game.

[USArsnl]

If he were a decent goalkeeper, he would have made the save, instead of blaming the same weather conditions that everyone had to contend with.

[diablodelsol]

Dear Dirty -

A better keeper shuffles his feet and gets his body behind that shot. But you're not a better keeper.

Thanks for giving us the dos in dos a cero.

[Cmoney101]

the wind changed its trajectory

The wind of God. hahahahah i love when they play sanchez