ESPN presents the notes that the chosen ones obtained to face the combined of the ‘maple leaf’
After four games in the Concacaf qualifier heading to Qatar 2022, Mexico remains undefeated with eight points, after equaling one goal against its Canadian counterpart on the field of the Azteca Stadium, however, he lost the top of the classification momentarily.
The combined of the ‘maple leaf’ was shown as the team with the greatest football work that El Tri has faced so far in the tie and showed it with dangerous plays that threatened the goalkeeper’s three sticks, and even generated a greater number of opportunities during the first period, while, in the complement, they relaxed the lines and complicated the result.
His first intervention occurred at minute 15, with gloves on a shot by Richie Layrea from inside the large area, which bounced off Tajon Buchanan’s feet and could have ended in goal, except for the poor counterattack that ended well over the crossbar.
Five minutes from the end Ochoa again intervened, stopping a point-blank header from defender Steven Vitoria, after a free kick to the area at 40 ‘. On the play of the goal, two minutes later, there was little he could do to prevent his frame from falling, due to the poor brand of Nestor Araujo.
In the complementary part, Guillermo Ochoa again saved his frame at 79 ‘, before a shot from Liam Millar with his head.
The right-back made an effort to restrain Alphonso Davies’ speed in said lane and, although he lost multiple individual duels, he generated the first blow of authority. versus the most expensive player in Concacaf.
At 21 ‘, El Tri generated an offensive play from the front row on the left flank, which went from end to end along the front of the area, thanks to a filtered air service from Hirving Lozano, who Sánchez controlled with his right leg and defined the net with his left foot.
In addition, the group slowed down revolutions and allowed a much higher number of arrivals, which were well stopped by Sánchez and company, although on several occasions it allowed rival attackers to stay hand in hand.
Under the inertia that the central defender has dragged with the Mexican National Team during the summer and the first duels of the tie heading to Qatar 2022, was shown as the weakest link in the defensive line of the Tri and his weak mark inside the area led to the goal that meant 1 to 1.
Alphonso Davies took the ball near the balcony of the area at 40 ‘and yielded to Jonathan Osorio, who waited only inside the area, because Araujo relaxed the mark and allowed him to shoot the Canadian attacker comfortably.
He generated confidence in the front line of the Tri, with specific interventions to prevent the rival’s advances and also collaborated with passes of a certain degree of difficulty to collaborate on offense. It is worth mentioning that the play of the Mexican goal was generated in his boots.
The left side left bittersweet sensations, as he started with a good rhythm and marking important passes for his teammates, however, his performance fell and even endangered the goal of Guillermo Ochoa, with specific failures to cut danger balls.
Due to the latent danger that Alphonso Davies represented during the duel, the midfielder, who usually collaborates on offense, limited himself to playing behind the center circle, to avoid spaces in the rear of the Tri, with Jorge Sánchez and César Montes as beneficiaries. It came out at 80 ‘by Luis Romo.
With few balls and imprecise in the lines, the captain of the Tri went unnoticed during most of the 72 minutes that he participated in the duel, before being replaced by Carlos Rodríguez, in the search for the coach to regain an offensive presence in the center of the court.
In the struggle to stop Osorio’s speed through the center, as well as Davies and Buchanan on the sides, the ‘Machín’ was firmly positioned as containment and even withdrew as third center, to prevent the rival from penetrating the defense during the lapses in which he controlled the ball and besieged the Tri area.
The attacker started on the right side of El Tri and made a good start, however, -and faithful to his last matches- lost prominence on the grass and got lost between the own lines and rivals. He does not go through his best footballing moment and left the exchange at 73 ‘for Uriel Antuna.
The ‘Lobo’ returned to the Mexican National Team almost ten months later to claim his place as the team’s starting center forward., with great vision to find his teammates in attack and enough quality to get rid of rivals and give continuity to the ball towards the goal.
At the beginning of the second period, the attacker found an aerial service that finished off with his head – protection included – and watched as the spherical fell dangerously, but not enough to detonate the audience of the Azteca Stadium.
At 66 ‘, Jiménez entered the small area alone and finished off towards the nets, however, the whistler annulled the goal because there was a knockdown prior to the auction on Steven Vitoria.
In response to the speed of the Canadian offensive, Mexico responded with the legs of Hirving Lozano, who wore on both flanks, broke away from the rival brand, closed towards the center with shots and the offensive weight was recharged, even too much, about his person throughout the duel.
His performance was rounded from the 21 ‘, with an assist for Jorge Sánchez, then he took the ball on the balcony of the area and gave precise air to the right side, who later controlled with his right leg and defined with his left foot.
Alternates
The midfielder entered at 72 ‘, as a replacement for Guarded, and provided revolutions to the center of the Tri field, after Guarded did not look comfortable during his active time.
He relieved Jesús Corona at 72 ‘, however, he showed few arguments to denote an improvement on the team’s right wing.
The containment midfielder took over from Héctor Herrera at 80 ‘and showed more offensive football, although not enough to make a difference, due to the timing of the game and the few balls he touched.
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