Photo Credit: Seleccion Nacional Mexicana
By: Jonny Rico
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The Mexican National Team defeated Honduras on Thursday evening at the University of Phoenix Stadium in the quarterfinals of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup and advanced to the semifinals. Mexico will now head to Los Angeles where on Sunday evening they will face Jamaica at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.
The 1-0 win for Mexico was a historic one for Colombian manager Juan Carlos Osorio who has finally won a direct elimination match. Osorio’s Mexico had suffered three defeats in three matches up until Thursday quarterfinal match against Honduras. El Tri suffered a 7-0 loss last summer in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Copa America Centenario, they lost 4-1 against Germany in the semifinals of the 2017 Confederations Cup and then lost to Portugal 2-1 in the third place match of the same Confederations Cup.
The monkey is now off of Osorio’s back and he can continue to work with his critics having to take a few days off. Because more than just a win in a direct elimination match of a tournament, Mexico actually played a solid match.
Osorio did not send out any wild experiments in the starting lineup. Mexico lined up with a very reasonable 4-2-3-1:
Photo: Jonny Rico via FootballUser
Mexico was able to establish control of the match through the two defensive midfielders. Jesus Molina and Jesus Dueñas gave Mexico the stability to push forward while staying compact in defense.
The overly cautious Honduras game plan even allowed both Dueñas and Molina to contribute offensively from time to time. Molina made delayed runs up the middle and offered an open pass option for the Mexican wingers. A shot from Molina from just outside of the box came very close but the ball sailed over the crossbar. Dueñas was able to push up the field and put in the assist to Rodolfo Pizarro’s opening goal of the match in the fourth minute.
Pizarro had started the play on the right wing of the field. He sent in a far cross looking for Orbelin Pineda. Pineda controlled the ball and set up Dueñas just inside of the box. The Tigres midfielder sent in a low cross to where Pizarro ran onto and tapped the ball into the back of the net.
[REPLAY▶️] Pizarro is all alone at far post for a simple tap in to give #ElTri?? the lead.#GoldCup2017 #ElTriEng pic.twitter.com/WIsM6nDot0
— Jonny Rico Aviles (@Jonyrico) July 21, 2017
In the second half of the match El Tri looked to push forward looking for a second but without much urgency. Mexico took advantage of the cautious Honduran set up and was able to move the ball around the field making the Central Americans run and chase the ball.
Mexico now heads to California where on Sunday they’ll once again face off against Jamaica in the semifinal round of the Gold Cup. The winner will advance to San Francisco where on Wednesday July 26th they’ll face the winner of the USA vs Costa Rica match in the Gold Cup Final.
Sunday’s semifinal match against Jamaica will be the third time both teams meet in the span of 13 months. Both met in the 2016 Copa America Centenario last year during the group stage where they played to a 1-1 draw in the same exact stadium where they’ll play on Sunday. They both met once again last Thursday July 13th in the group stage of this Gold Cup where they played to another draw, this time 0-0.
In this next match, there will be no draw. Mexico or Jamaica, one of them must come out on top and advance to San Francisco.
