MEXICO VS. NEW ZEALAND-Denver, CO, June 1

Alistate pinche pajarraco...

el 15 aya estoy

 

Last but not least

 

Not much to say really. Gio decided the game in the first half with two nice goals, the second one was great.

Maza and Moreno have formed an extremely solid partnership and I hope Chepo sees that and doesn't try to squeeze Rafa back there in favor of either of these guys.

Juarez is still a bit rusty but he did well. I still think Osorio will start but Juarez is a great guy to have on the bench.

Salcido had a good game although it's amazing that a guy with his level of experience still resorts to hot dogging and poor decision making at times. There were two plays in which he had Zavala and Reyna open at the top of the box and he decided to cross, which he messed up, and to take a shot with absolutely no angle.

Torrado and Castro did well in keeping the flow of the game moving but were poor offensively but not as much defensively. Zavala wasn't much better but he showed he's much better at tackling than either of the starters.

Guardado is not a wide player, hasn't been for years, and is truly ineffective if he's tasked with running down the wings and pumping crosses into the box. He doesn't have the ability to beat his man off the dribble constantly and tends to be more effective when coming down the middle. I still think he should play as a CM with offensive duties.

Barrera creates danger every time he has the ball although he's still lacking in his final touch/pass but hopefully he'll be more assertive as the tournament goes on.

Aldo did well although he missed three or four clear chances. His hold up play is good.

Gio....well, Gio is a beast. Let's just leave it at that.

The subs were largely ineffective and that is mostly down to making too many changes at once. Bermudez, IMO, showed he can translate his game to the international level. Very smart player that uses his brain to offset his physical limitations. Reyna had a couple nice surges and with a bit of time to adjust, I think will be a very good player for the NT. Elias had a quiet night and hopefully steps up when he plays again. Zavala also had a quiet game but showed some interesting things but also seemed a bit apprehensive.

 

I am really not understanding why the press, almost to a man, says that this was a throw away game. I am not here to say that New Zealand was a great team -- they weren't -- but Mexico is getting ready for the Gold Cup, not the World Cup.

The Kiwis were physical, and played 10 men behind the stripe; they just didn't do it very well. Much like 3/4 of the Gold Cup teams Mexico will play.


A few thoughts...

Carlos Salcido has actually gotten better since South Africa, which is incredible. There is reason why Fulham doesn't want to cut him loose. He is Mexico's best player right now.

I get so sick of talking heads (and they did it both on FOX and ESPN last night) minimizing what players do on the field because of the "crappy" opponent. Gio was terrific last night, and it is obvious to all of us that he is 10 times the player Sinha is. But since Sinha is the current media darling (and Chepo's gallo), then Gio did what he did not because he is a terrfic player who is playing at the level we all knew he could, but because NZ was worse than a Sunday league team playing with a cruda. I just don't understand why they minimize everything that is good about Mexico.

Hobbit earned my respect last night. He had some field tipping moments. I will call him the closer, because he will play when Mexico is firmly ahead.

Elias is a good player, but he has been in a slump since the liguilla. I hope he snaps out of it.

I posted earlier that the delanteros did nothing to but stand still in the box, and then de Nigris flashed in front of his defender for his goal. Nice play.

The defenders did a nice job of completing their passes and were rarely careless with the ball.

I know people get on Castro's case a lot (which I think is unwarranted), but he made some very nice, long passes to the flanks. He also runs his ass off, and follows the "keep possession first" rule. Castro would rather pass it back than give it away on a 50/50 ball, and that is fine with me.

Barrera is a great player, but he is just not the same guy that played for Pumas last year. It is like he has forgotten how to shoot. If Sinha has to play, I would rather Barrera sit down than Gio.

Overall, Mexico is playing well, and will get better once the tournament starts. Our offensive line has been upgraded (borgetti, kikin, bravo - chich, aldo, Gio), and that makes me beyond giddy.

 

The last pic of my eyes all facked up thats how yours are going to be trying to hang with the big boys

 

Hobbit wasnt bad. If he gets thrown in with the starters I think he can shine more. Reyna wasnt too precise, but i liked that he tried ling range shots a few times. The team needs to keep trying those.

 

Thats exactly how it happened, I feel like people patronize him cuz he is a midget, so anything he does relatively well gets magnified when in reality he did nothing, he runs and leaves his all in the field no question but he is not good enough.

 

fox espn? was that in ingrish? dump that and tune into bracamontes n co. Everybody knows and says that zinha is just the coaches homie, and that in every cycle there are those players. hopefully chepo comes to his senses. that spazzo Rafa Puente was dissing on gio because of his opponent also.

Barrera, may not have played like in past, but he did some nice weaving in and around some players before sending the pass back to torrado for the assist to Gio.

 

Mosco that. Way too many centros, especially in the first half. A centro here and there is okay but that was way too much for us. We should've been passing the ball around more, making runs and creating openings instead of trying to score countless headers. Other than that I liked the way we played the first half minus de Negris, which will be obviously substituted for Chicharito for the Gold Cup.

 

Photos from the game.
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/tb9a-1XuOCB/New+Zealand+v+Mexico