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Mexico advances to knockout round after tough test against Jamaica

Photo by Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports
Photo by Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports

Jamaica won’t be extending their stay at the Copa America Centenario, but they gave Mexico all they could handle on Thursday night.

Mexico escaped the Rose Bowl with a 2-0 win against Jamaica, behind goals from Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Oribe Peralta.

El Tri was always going to find more of the ball with their superior quality, and Hernandez made the most of it in the 18th minute. The Bayer Leverkusen striker scored his first goal of the tournament after guiding Jesus Manuel Corona’s cross into the net.

Hernandez’s effort proved crucial for the Mexicans, as the CONCACAF side managed just one shot on goal in the opening 45 minutes.

Mexico added a second finish late in the match when second-half substitute Oribe Peralta slotted his shot just inside the post with nine minutes remaining.

Despite an early onslaught of possession from Mexico, Jamaica found a quality chance in the seventh minute when Clayton Donaldson broke free towards the center of El Tri penalty area. The Jamaican forward pulled his shot wide of goal though, failing to trouble keeper Guillermo Ochoa.

The Reggae Boyz were at it again in the 35th minute when Garath McCleary’s close-range effort was blocked on the doorstep by Mexico defender Yasser Corona.

Mexico began to press harder in the second half, forcing Jamaica keeper Andre Blake and the team’s backline to remain on his toes. However, Jamaica will be upset that a crucial decision didn’t go their way in the 64th minute.

Yasser Corona was involved again for El Tri, when the Mexican defender took down Donaldson inside the penalty area. Despite the team’s protests, the referee wanted nothing to do with the call.

Mexico advances with the win and moves atop Group C on six points, while Jamaica is eliminated from advancing to the quarterfinals. El Tri will close out the group stage on Tuesday against Venezuela, who will also join Mexico in the final eight. The Reggae Boyz will close against Uruguay as both teams seek their first points of the tournament.

MAN OF THE MATCH

After sitting out in the team’s first match against Uruguay, Guillermo Ochoa returned to goal on Thursday and posted a shutout. The Mexican keeper was tested on several occasions, answering the call by making three big saves.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Jamaica managed plenty of chances on their own, but the referee didn’t help them out just after the hour mark when Clayton Donaldson was taken down in the box by Yasser Corona.

MATCH TO FORGET

Clayton Donaldson was Jamaica’s main source of attacking on the night, but the Birmingham City striker simply couldn’t capitalize in front of goal. Donaldson managed three shots on the night, none of which landed on target.

Comments

  1. Are all of you saying that the penalty not awarded caused Jamaica the win? They played counter the entire game. No tactical play, no skill play and no finishing and you combine all of it together it equals a loss. My dad is a huge mexico fan and i support the U. S and reading these stupid comments from hipsters like turkmenbashy who just started watching this sport pisses me off. I grew up playing and loving it and my son is doing the same.

    Reply
    • Their tactical play was to counter hard, taking total advantage of their strength and speed superiority to Mexico. And it worked really well, as the Mexico defense got shredded time after time, and Jamaica had a huge advantage in genuinely dangerous scoring opportunities. The problem was the finishing, and it was a doozy of a problem, to be sure. But any Mexico fan who walks away from that game thinking there is no problem and that Mexico’s vulnerability was not exposed is setting himself up for disappointment down the road.

      You can also choose to kid yourself about how a bonafide penalty when the score was 1-0 would not have changed the game. Just don’t expect anyone except fellow Mexico fans with their heads in the sand to agree with you.

      Reply
    • Mexico is the best team in CONCACAF but last night Jamaica was better. Unfortunately, Jamaica’s main striker is not world class and that saved Mexico a loss. Let us be honest, strikers on many of the other teams in this tournament would have hit the back of the net on at least one of the opportunities that Donaldson missed. Being objective here, Donaldson bailed out Mexico last night. I give credit to Mexico for the two excellent goals but they met their match last night. If Jamaican can find that one world class striker things will certainly change in CONCACAF…

      Reply
      • Truth:

        Being that the team that scores the most goals is THE factor which distinguishes the winner of a game from the loser…. the importance of finishing should not be underestimated—- it is a huge factor when it comes to determining the better team.

  2. UGH. Watching Donaldson last night was painful. Forget scoring, he couldn’t even get the ball off his feet sometimes in front of goal. He had at least three “in on goal” type situations, and couldn’t do JACK. I know MLS isn’t all that, but couldn’t Giles Barnes do a better job at center forward?

    …Mexico’s defense looked vulnerable, which is the good takeaway from the game.

    Reply
    • It was painful because I could tel that Jamaica could have won that game. As Donaldson kept missing I was thinking about all the Jamaican background attacking players in the English Premier League. If just one of them could have been recruited when they were younger…..(Sturridge, Sterling….the list can go on). Jamaica is one finisher away from actually being a dominant team in CONCACAF. Last night showed that without a top tier striker, they will continue to be a “close but no cigar” team. Their federation should be aggresively approaching their English born players who are playing under 17 and under 20 for England, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland etc…That is the only hope.

      Reply
  3. Jamaica suffers from the same afflictions as the USMNT:

    *Too many MLS players
    *Euro players are on mid to lower level EPL teams. Morgan is the outlier.
    *Lack of quality in the important attacking positions

    Reply
  4. 1. Give Mexico credit for finishing their chances and for winning their first 2 games and advancing to the knockout round. It is clear that this Mexico team is easily best in CONCACAF and perhaps one of the best Mexico sides ever.

    2. That said, these tournaments in the US (CAC and Copa Oro) do set the venues to favor Mexico and do benefit by Mexico making a deep run – they play in locations to maximize the Mexican fan base and minimize travel. The officiating has also seen now a number of key calls going for Mexico over the last two tournaments which you have to question as well.

    Reply
    • Agreed on point 2. and full credit for winning games too. But I can’t say that they are the best team in CONCACAF. They are 1 and 1a with the US… who is on top on any given day is a total question mark.

      Reply
      • “They are 1 and 1a with the US…” If it is the mean of the last 10 years you are speaking of, then you have an argument, but if one is realistic about this cycle/previous 2 years, I would have to respectfully ask you what medications you are taking? There are signs that the U.S. might be righting the ship, but we some consistent results in meaningful competition are needed to confirm that and/or legitimize any bragging rights whatsoever as “Kings of CONCACAF” (aka:Big-fish in the lil’ Pond)

      • I am talking about the fact that over the last 2 years there has been one competitive match between the US and MX and Mexico won in the 118th minute. and looking at the Gold cup results, MX was gifted the tournament with a bow by some absolutely horrific officiating. That Gold cup final should have been CR v. Jamaica and everyone other than MX fans knows it. So, based on a relatively even performance in the gold cup and relatively even performance in that Nov. game… MX is not heads and shoulders above anyone. Finally, the US has played a LOT better than MX so far in this tournament, as MX has gotten some ridiculous calls and has had their defense torched by Jamaica!

  5. That is now 4 of the past 6 competitive matches for Mexico in the US where poor officiating has changed the result materially in favor of Mexico. I am really starting to get cynical about the FMF’s payroll.

    Also, Oh my god. if Jamaica can hurt Mexico like that… imagine what Argentina/Chile will do to them… absent a couple quick red-cards from a friendly ref.

    Reply
    • 4 games? you are being too generous!!!! Considering they haven’t lost in 21 games I’m sure they’ve gotten referee help in the last 20 games!!! Including their recent win against Chile!!!

      Reply
      • I didn’t watch those… I have seen 6 games in the past 12 months… and in 4 there was obviously bad officiating that went in Mexico’s favor each time. I mean, its one thing if you think I am making stuff up, but I don’t even think you can argue that Mexico has not, in fact, had all the calls go their way in a suspicious fashion.

      • Why would I argue with you?!! You are probably the most mentally stable person in the whole internets!!!!
        Keep up the good fight my brother. As painful and excruciating as it might be to sit in front the the tv during Mexico’s games the fact that you are willing to do it restores my faith in The Revolution
        THEY MUST BE EXPOSED!!!

      • Rule #1: Always hang on every word of a poster who uses lots of exclamation points and CAPS…

    • Mexico ALWAYS seems to get the calls (or no calls, in this case ) on US soil “home soil”.

      Mexico is very much a de facto home team here in the States.

      Reply
      • Granted location obviously plays a factor, but both Mexico games have been rocking. The stadium has been packed and loud.

  6. If anyone on the USMNT fubared as many chances as Jamaica and Clayton Donaldson, he wouldn’t darken the shadows of the field in a long time…Not even Altidore can completely ruin that many opportunities in one game!!!! Wow…

    Reply
    • If you go by scoring chances then Jamaica dominated. Felt like the chances were 10-2. But Mexico scored their two and Jamaica messed theirs up. I wanted Jamaica to win.

      Reply
    • It was quite sad to see Donaldson miss chance after chance. It was looking like it was going to be an upset but Donaldson showed why he is in second division in England. He is not a prime time striker. This is when Jamaica wishes they would have recruited the likes of Sturridge or Sterling long ago. That is the missing link for Jamaica. No dynamic striker.

      Reply
      • I doubt if JA had any real shot at Sturridge or Sterling. They only get the English scrubs like Donaldson and Giles Barnes

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