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Friday Kickoff: Mexico beats Bosnia, Hulk closer to Chelsea move and more

Mexico Bosnia (Getty Images)

Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez may have missed two quality chances, but he came through in the clutch to give Mexico another friendly win on Thursday.

Hernandez made up for two missed shots in the 80th minute by scoring a winner in stoppage time of a 2-1 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina at Solder FIeld. Hernandez came off the bench in the match in the 61st minute, and he knocked in the winner in the rainy game with a close-range finish after Bosnian defenders failed to clear the ball three times on the play.

Mexico jumped out in front in their penultimate friendly before World Cup qualifying begins through a sixth-minute goal from Giovanni Dos Santos, but Bosnia responded before halftime when Edin Dzeko buried a chance just before the half-hour mark.

Here are more stories from around the soccer world:

CHELSEA CLOSES IN ON HULK

Chelsea might be losing Didier Drogba, but they may have just found a viable replacement. Chelsea has agreed to pay FC Porto $58.2 million for Brazil forward Hulk, and is ready to finalize the deal in the coming days. Personal terms with the Brazilian international still need to be agreed upon, but that seems just a formality at this point. Hulk would be Chelsea's second big signing this summer, with the club having acquired Eden Hazard last week.

UEFA SUSPENDS TERRY TWO MORE MATCHES

John Terry has been given further punishment by UEFA for his red card against Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals. The federation suspended Terry two additional games for violent conduct against Barcelona winger Alexis Sanchez, meaning the Chelsea defender will miss the club's Super Cup match in August against Europa League winner Atletico Madrid and Chelsea's first Champions League group game in September. Terry and Chelsea can appeal.

GERMANY BOUNCES BACK WITH FRIENDLY WIN OVER ISRAEL

Germany rebounded from a deflating loss to Switzerland by topping Israel, 2-0, on Thursday in their final friendly before Euro 2012 begins. Mario Gomez and Andre Schuerrle scored on each side of halftime in the match that Germany dominated. Germany begins their Euro 2012 campaign on June 9 with a match against Portugal.

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What do you think of Mexico's 2-1 win over Bosnia Herzegovina? Expecting Hulk to succeed in the EPL? Should Terry have been banned more games?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. That’s what happens when krackers run the show. If it ain’t football baseball basketball or golf they ain’t interested.

    Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

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  2. I agree about Mikel. the only downside to tha tis where does Ramires play? Also Essien is a squad player now. Never going to be the same IMO.

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  3. Ha. I guess you can understand my enthusiasm. Torres I dont think anyone saw being a bit of flop given his proven caliber in the EPL. Ballack, Sheva were two older players that had experience in 1 league all thier life. Hulk has been able to recreat his play based off where he plays(Japan, Portugal, Brazil NT) and Hazard is a top prospect he has tons of skill and is a speedy winger. This should translate well to the PL. It is entirely possible that they could both bust but not likely. Also if it were up to me I would play Luiz and Cahill and let Terry phase out. Not gonna happen but that is what I would do. Also I would play Mikel with Lampard but where do you play Ramires? tough questions.

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  4. I agree with you on Terry, K Bone, and on the risks of Hulk and Hazard. That said, I think Cahill and Luiz are just getting better every week so if the Blues address the needed bite in center midfield in tough games, I think their defense will be fine, especially if Terry gets hurt more often. 😉

    Cheers!

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  5. Yeah, it’s a strong squad but it’s not like ManCity. Although, Citeh’s method certainly worked fairly well as they won the league. Given Lampard’s aging frame, Mikel will get his time on the pitch.

    That lineup might be a little short of central structure against better teams. I can see Mikel or Essien (depending on form) in tougher road contests.

    And yeah, they should challenge for the league next season.

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  6. I personally don’t think Chelsea will win the league this year, not with Terry and Cahill on defense. If Terry has more games like he did against Liverpool they are going to get killed. And I mentioned before, I think having all that offense will be bad for counter attacks, as Lampard and Ramires aren’t traditional holding mifielders that protect the backline. Plus, it’s not like Hulk and Hazard are guaranteed to just waltz into the EPL and be amazing. Ballack, Shevchenko, and Torres have all been huge busts for Chelsea (Ballack was decent but he didn’t have near the impact I thought he would). Of course, Chelsea are your team, so it’s not like I can blame you for thinking they can win it…

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  7. I don’t think I was being a jerk, I just want people to be realistic. Several people on here have said he should be worth way more than he is, like it’s an injustice clubs don’t want to pay 30 million pounds for him, not that you are. I wasn’t trying to offend you…

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  8. “Accept it and move on…”

    Huh? I’m looking forward to his club future. I never said that anything about the situation was unacceptable. No need to be a jerk.

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  9. If Dempsey were Brazilian, he probably wouldn’t be as good as he is– cause his attitude is 100 percent American… and that’s a huge part of what makes him as good as he is….

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  10. Incorrect.

    If Clint Dempsey was Brazilian, he would have just had his contract terminated due to legal reasons (and also due to being fat, out of shape and a coke head).

    Americans peak at/around this age.

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  11. For everyone screaming Chelsea is the new ManCity or they have too many players and not enough positions just look at the squad again. Chelsea play a 1 striker system now.

    Torres
    Hazard Mata Hulk
    Lampard Ramires
    Cole Terry Luiz Ivanovic

    Marin, Mikel, Sturridge, Cahill, Lukaku/Debruyne/McEacheran on the bench

    Essien is not the ame player as he used to but if he wants to stay at Chelsea as a squad player that is fine with me.

    There alot of players here that can play many different positions effectively like Hulk and
    Ramires can play in any of the middle 5 positions.

    Where exactly is this squad busting at the seams like ManCity? To me Chelsea have a top drawer starting 11 with some younger players that still need to prove themselves on the bench. The onlyones truely with a gripe are Sturridge and Mikel.

    Just perks of winning the Champions League 🙂 Chelsea gonna win the league next year!

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  12. I thought Hulk played on the right, and Hazard I believe is going to play in the middle with Mata on the left. At least that he wants. It’s a formidable offense for sure, especially if Torres actually scores goals again, which is always possible. However, the defense is still pretty weak, and Ramires and Lampard aren’t exactly the kind of defensive mids they need to have all that firepower up top. Terry will continue to fade, and they could be exposed big time with counter attacks…

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  13. $59M?!?! wow, that is insane.

    man oh man did that bosnian defender really botch that. the ball was certainly moving all over the place, it was raining, and it was REALLY windy, but dude, why not head the ball instead of trying to bicycle it out in those conditions?! other than that, both teams were pretty even considering.

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  14. El Salvador vs Honduras in RFK is expected to get about 44 K yet gets very little coverage. Ita amazing how popular the sport is in the USA compared to the coverage it gets

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  15. Yeah that was crazy! That ball had some voodoo, even when the Mexican player tried to strike on goal the ball went in a crazy spiral, which I think that’s why the defender had a hard time clearing, the ball must of had a lot of spin and with wet conditions I’m sure it was harder than what it looked….but still from our point of view he should have cleared that ball.

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  16. If Clint Dempsey were Brasilian, he woud be as good as he is now 6-7 years ago.

    So yes, he’d have a massive transfer fee. But at 23-24,not at 30.

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  17. We don’t need a yardstick to measure interest in soccer in the US. Its massive. Every metric has already shown that. We have two all soccer cable channels. Whenever a big match is on during a prime window, it gets huge ratings. Stadiums sell out.

    The Soccer market is huge, it just doesn’t come across that way to most observers because its so fragmented that it appears to be a niche sport.

    Let me put it this way: If MLS was the top league in global soccer the way the NBA is and the way the NFL is, then Soccer would not only be a big 4 sport, but it might be in the top two. If the USMNT was the first choice national side of all the soccer fans that live in this country, our home field advantage would be near unparalleled in world football.

    Instead, the fragmented nature of the sport here provides an excuse to the haters in the sports media to not give the sport the attention it deserves in mainstream coverage.

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  18. Hulk———Torres———-Hazard
    ————-Mata—————–
    ——Lampard——-Ramires——-
    Cole————————Ivanovic
    ——–Terry——-Cahill———-
    ————–Cech—————-

    With Marin, Sturridge, Mikel, Essien, and Lukaku on the bench… That’s scary.

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  19. I’d probably agree if he were a different nationality he’d be a bigger star, especially if Brazilian. However, all these guys are much, much younger then Dempsey and I think it’s far to say Hulk and Hazard are better than Dempsey, and miles ahead of Dempsey when he was their age. Dempsey is almost 30, and is not worth a ton of money in the transfer market. Accept it and move on…

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  20. Well, even City didn’t have that many players, and they also got lucky that Tevez basically quit for half the season so they were minus a player. Also, it worked for City (barely) because everyone seemed to be happy with their role. At Chelsea, I don’t see that happening…

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  21. well i would say Man City are the new Chelsea. This happened at Chelsea after Abromovich took over about 10 years ago, they just had a little lull recently. I remember reading that Mourinho wanted two world class players at every position back in his hey-day there.

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  22. FYI, Chicharito’s game-winning goal topped ESPN Sportscenter’s “Worst of the Worst” list this morning for the Bosnians’ comicly botched clearing attempt…

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  23. I think I saw some speculation… is there any other country that has recently hosted friendlies for other national teams?

    Just need to get the attendance up for the USMNT WCQ match against Antigua.

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  24. Buy everyone and let their play dictate who you stick with. Worked for city.

    Of course there will be big money guys who flame out, but that’s the cost of winning trophies.

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  25. There is a big interest in soccer in the USA. The USA bought the most tickets for the last world cup. The USA has clubs and national teams come play from just about every continent probably one of the few countries that has that distinction.

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  26. 51,240 at a wet Soldiers Field sounds pretty decent.

    I’m curious as to how big the crowds will be for these neutral country friendlies in the US as well as all the preseason visits this summer. It will be a good yardstick for US interest in soccer in general.

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  27. Wouldn’t be surprised if that defender doesn’t play again. That was just really painful to watch. Talk about a gift of a win.

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  28. I don’t quite see how this Chelsea team is going to work next season. Even with a lot of players moving on, they will still most likely have six spots for Lampard, Ramires, Sturridge, Torres, Hulk, Lukuka, Hazard, Mata, Mikel, Essien, Marin, and maybe Meireles, but if I were him I’d peace out. And if I was Marin, I’d wonder why they even signed him in the first place if they were bringing in Hulk and Hazard too. I guess they didn’t think they’d win the CL and have to settle for only Marin, ha. You have to think Torres will start the season or else he’ll be a whiny b, Hazard wants the whole team to revolve around him, Hulk and Mata will be starting, and Lampard assumes he’ll always start. What manager would want that task?

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