Mexico advance, despite a sloppy first half performance

Infographic by Jovanni Arroyo-Camberos

In a much tighter game than expected, the Mexican national team found a way to defeat Jamaica, 2-0, in their second game of Group C in the Copa America Centenario.

Mexico has now qualified to the quarterfinals with the victory Thursday night at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

The team came into the match after a surprising 3-1 win over Uruguay. Nothing but perfection was expected from Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and the rest of the Mexican team coming into the game against Jamaica.

As soon as the whistle blew, the match turned into a battle between both sides. Neither Mexico or Jamaica could get their shots on target as play from both teams were sloppy going back and forth throughout the first half.

“It wasn’t the best game for the team, it’s clear, but in these circumstances it’s important to know how to win and get the result,” said Mexico goalie Guillermo Ochoa. “ ... we had a few turnovers that cost us counter attacks, however the team has personality, character and soccer and it was demonstrated in the result.”

Mexico did however get on the scoreboard in the 18th minute, when Jesus “El tecatito” Corona received the ball from outside the box and crossed it into the center of the box that met Hernandez’s head and into the back of the net.

With the goal Hernandez now stands one goal shy, 45, of tying the all-time goal record for the Mexican national team that was set by Jared Borgetti with a total of 46 goals.

After 45 minutes Mexico and Jamaica went into halftime with the score, 1-0, giving Mexico the lead.

At the start of the second half, Mexico went back to the same gameplan they had against Uruguay, dominating with possession and shots on target.

However, Jamaica responded with multiple shots from Clayton Donaldson that put Mexico fans on their heels throughout the rest of the second half.

The silence broke when Mexico scored their second and final goal in the 81st minute of the match off the foot of Oribe Peralta, who came in the match as a substitute for Hernandez in the 78th minute.  

The match ended 2-0, with Mexico coming out on top and qualifying for the next round of the Copa America. With the victory, Mexico have eliminated both Uruguay and Jamaica from the tournament.

Although it wasn’t the same Mexico team fans were used to seeing, with high possession of the ball and pure control of the game, Mexico coach said their plans heading into the game against Jamaica didn’t pan out the way they wanted it to, however he said they knew was going to be tough.

“Well I think the balance is positive, we know that our proposition and the idea was to go out and control the game in the form of possession and we thought that their idea was to attack our defense,” said Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio in a postgame interview.  

Osorio also said that he knew they were the most athletic team out of the two and they had to adjust in order to control their physical and speedy play.     

Infographic by Jovanni Arroyo-Camberos

Mexico will now look toward their last game in the group stage that will determine the winner of Group C between them and Venezuela.

In an earlier match, Uruguay faced off against Venezuela in a must-win scenario for Uruguay, if the team had hopes of advancing to the next round.

Venezuela entered the match after defeating Jamaica,1-0, in their previous game. Venezuela came out with the victory, defeating Uruguay 1-0, and put themselves in prime spot to advance to the knockout rounds, pending the Mexico game.

Both Mexico and Venezuela will meet on Monday, June 13 in a match that will most likely determine who will avoid playing Argentina, who are favorites to win the whole thing, in the next round.

“We feel great, happy, and the truth is that we need to keep working,” said Mexico defender Miguel Layun in a postgame interview. “ ... like I always say, each game is to analyze all of the positive and negative things and continue to correct errors and [I] think that the game against Venezuela is a game [we need] to come out on top and look for a victory.”

With the surprising starts for both teams so far in the Copa America, Monday’s matchup will surely be an exciting and breathtaking game for all of the fans to enjoy.