The action and excitement of the FIFA U-20 World Cup continued tonight with the heated clash between Mexico and Uruguay. Uruguay entered the match on a good note after a one to nothing victory against Serbia. Mexico, on the other hand, saw one of the worst youth performances in recent years against Mali in their world cup opening match. The Mexican side saw two players sent off against the African nation and conceded twice shortly after. Mexico’s loss to Mali was a rude awakening the North American side and they needed to pick up the pieces and pull themselves together for their bout against Uruguay.
The match was expected to be one of the toughest encounters of Group D but was mostly uneventful. As the stats indicate, Mexico began by controlling the match with superior possession (65 percent by the end of the match) but despite all of the player’s efforts, “El Tri” was unable to get past a solid Uruguayan defense. It was not long before gameplay began turning aggressive and rough in a match that ultimately saw 37 fouls committed, 16 by Mexico and 21 by Uruguay.
In the 13th minute, Mexico’s player to watch, Hirving “El Chuckie” Lozano, met a well-placed cross at the edge of Uruguay’s six yard box with his head. The resulting shot beat Uruguayan goalkeeper Gaston Guruceaga but crashed into the post and rattled the cross bar.
In the 19th minute, Uruguay wasted a golden opportunity. Mexican goalkeeper Jose Gonzalez received a pass that he controlled over confidently. The ball bounced in front of him and as he looked up to find a teammate, he swung his left foot at the ball and sliced it to his left. Uruguayan forward Franco Acosta rushed to the ball and beat Gonzalez there, but failed to cease the opportunity as his shot went wide.
In the 21st minute, Gonzalez proceeded to redeem himself after his huge mistake with a splendid save at the top right corner of his goal.
The first half ended with both teams leveled at zeroes.
It was not until the 72nd minute that the scoreboard opened. Lozano pressed high up on Uruguay’s defensive line and pressured left back Paolo Lemos. Lozano was able to use his torso to steal the ball on the right side of the pitch and run into the right side of the 18 yard box to take a well-placed left footed shot past Guruceaga and into the goal.
With a one to nothing lead, Mexico began to slow gameplay down and commit more tactical fouls. This strategy backfired in the 84th minute when a foul led to an Uruguayan set piece. The free kick was taken by Facundo Castro who curled the ball inward from the right side of the field. The ball was met by Rodrigo Amaral at the edge of the six yard box. Amaral’s quick volley was well done and had it not been for intervention by Gonzalez, would have tied the match up. Gonzalez’s quick reflexes kept the ball out of the goal but the loose ball that resulted from his save ended up in front of Uruguayan forward, Matias Suarez. Suarez jumped forward with his right foot extended and simply pushed the ball into the Mexican goal. The match was now tied with each team earning a single goal.
Ultimately, Uruguay’s downfall was their rough play style. In the 91st minute, Erick Cabaco committed a foul just outside his own 18 yard box that earned him a second yellow and a sending off. Mexico’s left back, Kevin Gutierrez, was there to take the free kick. His left footed shot was perfectly placed at the top right corner of the goal. It was enough to beat Guruceaga, hit off the bottom side of the cross bar and enter the goal in true “Campanita” fashion.
With this result, Mexico accumulates their first three points of the tournament and moves on to face Serbia on June 6th on a good result. Uruguay is now on the same page Mexico was on before today’s match and will have to tactically analyze their faults and adjust for their sent off player. Uruguay will face Mali on June 6th. Both teams will look to earn their next three points and qualify for the round of sixteen while awaiting other game results in this tight group.
