Home Cookin’ Denies Mexico
Posted on March 22, 2013 19:35
Most of us have been around CONCACAF qualifiers long enough to know that home crowds can affect a ref’s decisions. Most of us have been watching soccer long enough to know that this phenomenon isn’t exclusive to CONCACAF either.
Carlos Costly certainly knows it. He has been using the dark arts to score goals for years. Especially against Mexico. After scoring off a corner kick, it was he who caught Courtney Campbell’s eye by taking a tumble and earning a penalty. Memo Ochoa stopped Jerry Bengston’s shot, but not his rebound as Honduras erased their 2-goal deficit. It ended 2-2.
Normally, getting any kind of result in Honduras for Mexico would be big news. It had been 20 years since they had won in the country and another 50 since they left San Pedro Sula as victors. So a draw would normally be a good result.
Not when you lose a 2 goal lead, though.
There will be many, many people who will blame the ref for the result, but why? Is anyone really surprised that a penalty that was so soft, it could be used as a concept for an upcoming toilet paper campaign, was called at San Pedro Sula, with that raucous home crowd?
It happens. Just like it would happen at the Azteca, or the Cuscatlan, or the Nacional…
The ref did not hand Honduras the draw. Mexico gave it away. Javier Hernandez’ double should have been enough, but it wasn’t. Sloppy passing, defending and overall game management opened the door for the Catrachos. They gladly obliged, and by the time Mexico needed a goal for the win, their two best players had cramped up and been subbed off.
The rest of the players were beyond spent. It was hotter than Laredo in August out there!
In the end, though, Mexico did what it was supposed to do on the road. Get the point and prevent your opponent from getting 2 for themselves. They’ll have back-to-back opportunities to get those elusive road points when qualifying heats up again in June. They need ‘em after Jamaica denied them 2 points at home last month.
But before that, they have a game to play. I don’t think I have to tell you against whom.
And the Azteca is sold out.
Most of the blame lays on MEX, but ref didn’t have to gift HON the PK.
It’s a sad fact of life in concacaf that the visiting team gets jobbed. I still remember Greg Vanney getting called for hand ball in the box when the ball bounced off his forehead. I think all of us have stories like these. It isn’t fair and it isn’t right but to quote the great Kurt Vonnegut, “so it goes”.
That was Berhalter, pero bueno.
Soft PK? Maybe, but far from the softest I have ever seen.
Exactly. Not the hardest foul I’ve ever seen, but still a foul. Mexican defender shouldn’t have given the ref the opportunity to make the call, but he did.
As a Mexican, I think blaming the ref for the PK is a bit hypocritical considering how we won our last game vs Honduras at the Azteca. Football is football.
I felt the same way last night; which play are you referring to? I remember one during qualifying for 2010.
this game also shows the mediocrity of CONCACAF, Honduras is right now the second best team in the area and they celebrated a win with a reall soft called penalty at home like if it was a World Cup final.
You can generalize about CONCACAF refs, but Courtney Campbell is a special breed of pants-shitter in tough venues, and has been for years. There are plenty of good refs in the region Sibrian (now retired from internationals), Batres, Archundia, who gave you confidence when you saw them with a whistle… then there were guys like Campbell, Pendergast, and Navarro, that scared the crap out of me both for bad calls, and for player safety. I thought some US players were going to get broken femurs down in Panama city back in 2005 with Navarro failing miserably to control the match.
I think it’s a little irresponsible to blame that penalty call on home field advantage. Mexico is regularly given much softer calls in qualifying.
Blame your coach’s I’ll advised substitutions. Blaming the refs is weak sauce for the perennial “power” of the region.
If Mexico wanted the game, they should have fought for it in the last 15 minutes. Instead Honduras had them on the ropes and almost took the 3 pts.
Weak will and character has always been El Tri’s Achilles heel.
Could you point out the last blatant gift we were given by the referees that was decisive for a result? Didn’t think so. And LMAO at weak will and lack of character at a team that has been undefeated in official games in almost 3 years, lol get a grip mofocka.
1). The PK Mexico was gifted at the last hex against El Salvador.
2). I guess wetting the bed in World Cups doesn’t count?
1) The PK against El Salvador wasn’t decisive, we lost anyway.
2) Don’t think that being in the top-15 at every WC from the last 20 years is wetting the bed, that’s our real level. Wetting the bed would be not advancing to the second round like USA in 06′.
1). Doesn’t make it any less atrocious by any stretch.
2). Top 15? Not quite. You know what’s gonna get Mexico over the top? Dropping the little bitch attitude and acting like a champion.
Eh. In the end, it wasn’t just the penalty.
Maza Rodriguez’ weak defending, and slow timing really cost Mexico a lot of comfort in the backline.
Not to mention, bringing on Bravo as a SUBSTITUTE to Hernandez as opposed to a sort of ‘poste’ like he was in both their tenures at Guadalajara.
The subs were not smart either.
…Chepo must’ve had a heatstroke.
Regarding CONCACAF refs: Well think about it this way—Chiqui-Dracula could have reffed the match instead and then we would’ve had red cards instead of a soft pk. cheers everybody!
=D
Bitter, party of one, your table is now available.
And, by the way, your work is outstanding, John.
Thanks for the nice words, chowder, and thanks to everyone else for their comments.
There is no doubt that a lot folks would like to have the last 20 minutes of the game back. Chepo could have injected some fresh legs where he needed them most – the midfield. Maza, who had controlled Costly for most of the day, let his guard down on the corner, and that was all that Costly needed. He is as wily as they come, and once he got into Maza’s head, he was going to be hell-bent on drawing a penalty. If he didn’t get that call, he would have tried, and tried again. Mexico could have done a lot better, but one has to credit Honduras for squeezing every last drop out of their home-field advantage… as they should.
It was a foul. In the box. Get over it.
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