SAN DIEGO, CA–The Mexico National Team debut in Snapdragon Stadium lived up to expectations and the pregame atmosphere.
Outside of the stadium was a sea of Red, White and Green as over 30,000 fans supporting the mexican and cameroon national team showed up to pack Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night. The Mexican supporters were treated to an exciting game full of scoring opportunities against a talented Cameroon team. Mexico looked to follow in their winning form after their 2-0 win against Guatemala on June 6th.
Through most of the first half Mexico retained a larger percentage of possession as Cameroon were happy to sit back. Cameroon settled into the game nicely and Karl Toko Ekambi got a shot off in the 8th minute as he did well to get away from multiple defenders on the endline.
The first breakthrough came for Cameroon in the 38th minute from Bryan Mbeumo. The talented 23-year old is fresh off of an excellent season with Brentford in the Premier League. His initial pass was deflected straight into his path and he was able to get a shot off that took another deflection into the left side netting. It is his first goal as a Cameroon International player and a huge milestone for an up and coming world class player. His matchup against Mexican defender Jesus Gallardo was very entertaining to watch. Both are top young talents working hard to make an impact at their respective clubs.
It looked like the game would go to half at 1-0, but in injury time Israel Reyes was able to receive a ball from Roberto De La Rosa inside the box and turn quickly to even the score.
The next goal went to Karl Toko Ekambi in the 61st minute. It was one of the easiest goals of his career as a clipped ball into the box bounced before Mexican goalkeeper Luis Malagon and squeaked through the keepers legs and Ekambi was able to pass it into the goal to regain the lead for Cameroon. This was a crucial mistake and a disappointing one for Malagon who was called upon to replace Carlos Acevedo who picked up a minor injury during the warmups.
Mexico made several changes bringing in Kevin Alvarez, Israel Reyes, Diego Lainez, Henry Martin, Erick Sanchez, Carlos Rodriguez, and Roberto Alvarado. They found slight success generating opportunities through balls over the top before Cameroon decided to sit back around the 70th minute. Cameroon went on to take every opportunity to delay the game accumulating multiple injuries and a few scuffles that didn’t lead to anything. The atmosphere around the stadium became more and more restless as it felt as though the game was headed towards a disappointing El Tri loss. But then in stoppage time a bouncing ball was brought down by Henry Martin and placed perfectly into the path of Kevin Alvarez who ran off the outside shoulder of the Cameroon defender dispatching his shot into the left side of the goal. The stadium erupted and beer flew in the air directly behind the goal from the Mexican supporters.
It was exactly the kind of ending the Mexican team would have hoped for as they look to carry the momentum of the late game-tying goal into Thursday’s matchup against the United States in the Concacaf Nations League Semi-Final. The resilience that Mexico showed will be a huge confidence boost as they go to Las Vegas to play their toughest opponent of the Summer.
