Credit:Mexsport
Mexico 4-1 El Salvador
ESTO's front page said "Gracias", to Javier Aguirre, to Cuauhtémoc Blanco, to all the Mexican national team, and I think all of Mexico feels the same way. Javier Aguirre is Mexico's Mr. Fix-It. He turned around the looming disaster in the Mexican national team after the Sánchez and Eriksson eras left the side on the verge of the playoffs, incorporated young players like Vela and dos Santos into the lineup, and brought back the old soldier Blanco. From fourth position on June 6, they have swept into the top two with 12 points taken from the last four matches. They enter the World Cup finals through the big door after defeating El Salvador. And they could finish the second round-robin with a 100% record.
And no, not even a swarm of bees could stop Mexico.
It has to be Blanco's last appearance in Azteca for a World Cup qualifier. And what a way to sign off with two goals. (One was ultimately scored as an own goal, but Blanco clearly had a role in it.) Vela deserved one for his tireless effort up front all game, as did Guardado for his service on the flanks. Rafa Márquez and Ricardo Osorio showed why they have been stalwarts in the Mexican defense for so long. Juárez had the best match of the defenders, though. Collectively, the Mexicans played very focused and intelligent against a determined but ultimately outmatched rival. Now they're in the World Cup, and the real work begins. There's a lot of work to do.
The final outcome wasn't a surprise, but the scoreline was actually deceiving. El Salvador made a game of it and attempted to create their own chances. They were brave and attempted to take the game to Mexico over 90 minutes. Quintanilla was a constant danger in the center of the field, and Castillo had his chances. The game got away from them in the end, especially after the lone Salvadoran goal when the play got too disjointed, and that was reflected in the final scoreline. Despite the end result, the players and fans should be proud of the effort that the team gave during the Hexagonal. There are some encouraging signs for the next qualifying cycle, now it's up to the federation to provide the institutional support.
Costa Rica 4-0 Trinidad & Tobago
Costa Rica drew the worst team of the Hexagonal at exactly the right time, and the match was barely a contest. Saborío was at the center of almost all the action for the Ticos last night. The Soca Warriors are looking for any positives from the match, and there really aren't any. T&T attempted to blood some of the top U-20 players, but it didn't go very well for them. They will have a lot of work to do just to return to the 2013 Hexagonal, much less qualify for Brazil 2014. Costa Rica are very much in the qualifying race, but as the Nacion match report summarized, "Let's not deceive ourselves." They still have to defeat the USA on the road for the first time in 24 years and there are still flaws in the Costa Rican side.
Honduras 2-3 USA
The best World Cup qualifier of the decade. What a sensational match. This was an instant classic (hint hint, ESPN), full of action, tension, and high drama. The match was grinding out to a goalless stalemate at the half, but it was a deceiving score because there was plenty of action on both sides. Davies really should have scored on his free header, but Valladares reacted fast to make one of the best saves of the Hexagonal. The US defense chose this occasion to play their best match of the Hexagonal in a very high pressure situation. They had neutralized Pavón for the most part, but not Costly for the most part. Honduras needed to convert the few chances given to them, and they didn't do a good job of that.
Nevertheless, the halftime score wasn't satisfactory to either team and was bound to change. A foul by Onyewu at the edge of the penalty area, and a free kick to Honduras. Júlio de León's free kick was beautiful, and the sidespin that he put on the ball was impressive. It was party time at the Estadio Olímpico and all of Honduras was exultant. And then came the USA's finest 20 minutes in a match in Central America. First Onyewu redeemed himself with a long ball that was headed on to Conor Casey. Casey barged past the central defender and beat Valladares to the ball to level the match. Ten minutes later Casey collected an inspired through ball from Donovan, accelerated past Figueroa and tucked the ball underneath Valladares to his left. Five minutes after that, Donovan curled a free kick around the wall and past the outstretched hands of the goalkeeper into the upper corner. 3-1 to the USA, Estadio Olímpico mute, Americans in the ascendancy.
With ten minutes to go de León, after an extended period of Honduran possession in the US penalty area, converted his second goal to set up a finish to the wire. With less than 120 minutes of normal time remaining, a penalty was to Honduras, and Carlos Pavón offered to take it. Full credit to him for taking it; other supposed symbols to their team have refused to take a penalty at a critical time. Pavón attempted to smash the ball into the net, but instead smashed it over the bar. He was looking for the perfect belated birthday present, but what a heart-breaking miss. Izaguirre's tears at the end of the match told the whole story. It's not over yet, of course, but could it be 2001 all over again? And can Honduras defeat their biggest rival away to avoid 180 minutes against South America?
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