Post-match: Mexican Press Reports

"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.

 

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

 

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.

 

If Gio touches that ball he's offside.

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

I think they're getting used to it.

 

I'm glad, but it's still amazing.

Good teams say "we lost -- let's figure out what we did wrong so we know how to improve on our performance."

Bad teams say "we lost -- but we did nothing wrong; it was the refs, bad luck, the weather, etc. As long as we play the way we did and avoid the refs, bad luck and weather, we'll win."

 

Same guy who photographed Phelps and the bong?

 

Still some classless stuff from Mexcio, per their usual:

1) Marquez studs up on Howard.

I'm surprised they viewed it as legit. When I saw it live, I didn't think it deserved a red, after viewing the replays = yes.

2) The slap.

Obviously, that guy was lying through his teeth, he did slap Frankie, but it wasn't that big of a deal, and Hejduk was not celebrating in an angry manner. C'mon, it's Frankie.

3) Dirty Pool and karma for dirty Sanchez.

I didn't notice it live, but on the replay, the same (I think) Mexican player wipes out Jozy, and then Landon during the build up to the second Bradley goal, should have been a card on the Jozy foul for sure, and maybe TWO. No class.

4) Fans.

Most were great, but all the throwing of the beer on the field at the end (during play) was classless. I'm not one to drone on about the "danger" of getting hit with a plastic cup and some liquid, but it was classless.

Still, we pretty much controlled the game, and that's a rarity in this series, even before the red. The only other ones I can remember are the 2005 game in Columbus and the second half of the Gold Cup win in 2007.

 

How can they have bad luck?

They had the voodoo.