Good evening folks. Tonight’s Mexico-Haiti match was supposed to be the dramatic must-win for Mexico, but Canada’s 5-0 win against Guatemala earlier today has made tonight’s match something altogether different.
It could very well be a funeral for Hugo Sanchez’s career as Mexico national team coach.
I will provide running commentary for the match, but please feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions on tonight’s match below.
Enjoy the match.
——————————–
FINAL- Mexico 5, Haiti 1. MEXICO IS OUT. NO OLYMPICS for MEXICO!!!!
——————————–
94th minute– PLACIDE SAVE to deny Landin, or as I like to call him, Juan Leno.
——————————–
93rd minute– Yes, a player on the Haiti bench just got a red card. This game is NUTS. And mexico needs one more goal.
——————————–
92nd minute– Mexico manages an offisde call, which will let Haiti waste more time.
——————————–
90th minute- GOAL MEXICO. Landin just made it 5-1 to Mexico thanks to another breakaway. Apparently Haiti is playing a 1-3-4 formation right now. Who paid off Haiti?
——————————–
88th minute- Would it be a stretch to call this the most ridiculous game of soccer in the history of the sport? Okay, maybe a bit of hyperbole, but this match is insane.
——————————–
86th minute– Not sure how the Haitian player got the red card in that exchange. We’re in for some serious stoppage time.
——————————–
84th minute– A scuffle breaks out (what a surprise) and the referee pulls out the red card on a Haitian player. This is getting ugly.
——————————–
83rd minute- GOAL MEXICO. What the heck is Haiti doing? That’s the second four on none break in three minutes. 4-1 Mexico. They need two more goals.
——————————–
82nd minute– WOW. Placide with an amazing save from point-blank range, which comes after Mexico blows a four-player breakaway.
——————————–
81st minute– The shot of Hugo Sanchez was priceless. He knows he is toast.
——————————–
80th minute– For those of you wondering, the last time Mexico failed to qualify for the Olympics was 1984.
——————————–
78th minute– SAVE HAITI. Placide saves the PK attempt from Vilaluz. WOW.
——————————–
77th minute– Mexico draws a penalty after a Haitian player kicks a Mexican in the face.
——————————–
76th minute– Anyone else think Mexico’s No. 9 could be Jay Leno’s half-Mexican son? What a chin on that kid.
——————————–
75th minute– Mexico misses an absolute tap-in. WOW.
——————————–
72nd minute– Sorry for missing the first 25 minutes of the second half. As you probably know, it’s 3-1 Mexico, meaning the Mexicans need three goals in 18 minutes to survive. Good luck.
——————————–
HALFTIME– Mexico 1, Haiti 0. Not nearly good enough for the Mexicans, who must find at least four more goals to advance to the Olympic qualifying semifinals.
——————————–
45th minute– Even with a man advantage, Mexico cannot find a second goal.
——————————–
42nd minute– Mexico just had a breakaway with numbers but couldn’t find the right combinations. The chances are there, but Mexico just isn’t finishing the plays off.
——————————–
39th minute– Johnny Placide, Haiti’s goalkeeper, has had a good showing tonight. He will be a hero to CONCACAF teams everywhere if he can keep it up.
——————————–
37th minute– Mexico is pouring on the pressure.
——————————–
36th minute– Hugo Sanchez makes a sub. You think he’s feeling the heat?
——————————–
35th minute– Mexico wastes a wide-open look. Can’t do that when you need to win by six goals.
——————————–
28th minute- A HAITI red card for a foul on the outside edge of the penalty area. It was a last man foul so it’s fair. NOW, things will get interesting.
——————————–
26th minute– tick, tick, tick.
——————————–
21st minute– Haiti with an EARLY sub. Who’s their coach, Javier Aguirre?
——————————–
17th minute- GOAL MEXICO. Villaluz with the header to make it 1-0. Only five more.
——————————–
13th minute– Mexico denied TWICE. The Haiti keeper makes an amazing save on the first, sending it off the bar, and the follow hits the crossbar. Mexico is cursed.
——————————–
10th minute– The begging for yellow cards is beyond annoying.
And Haiti doesn’t look too interest in attacking. They’re waiting for a counter.
——————————–
7th minute– Mexico trying the long shots already. This is a case where a young squad just doesn’t have the temperament to calmly approach a task like this.
——————————–
5th minute- You can sense the desperation from Mexico. They need to calm down if they’re going to find that early goal to break the ice.
Bruce would have been too busy putting down some hot dogs.
That was crazy, but the conspiracy theories are a bit much. Remember, Haiti had a chance to advance, albeit slim after going down a goal and down a man. And even if they had no chance, they certainly had no moral obligation to Canada or the US.
That said, glad to see Mexico fail!
I don’t care what happens in the semi. Selfishly, I’d almost rather see Jozy playing his final games in the swamp than in Beijing. Club before country, y’know? (now I’ll run for cover …)
In reality, this just shows the final group games should be played at the same time like in the World Cup and Euro. That at least somewhat hides the corruption.
even Bruce Arena would have put a few in the back of the net tonight
Bruce Arena is available Mexico.
That goalkeeper will always have this as his claim to fame, at the very least.
Christian:
We’re crazy to think that Haiti was paid off? How do you explain this spectacle? About the only other thing they could have done to help Mexico more was to shoot on their own goal! I think the only reason they were missing so many easy chances was because they thought the whole team was paid off and couldn’t understand why the goalkeeper was resisting so much. I think that’s why they kicked him! This game reminds me of the Black Sox Scandal. I just hope the goalkeeper doesn’t suffer the same fate as Shoeless Joe!
guys
I completely understand your reaction. I just personally wouldn’t act that way if the situation was reversed. Like I said though, after tonights game, we really didn’t deserve to even play you guys in the semis.
There are no excuses, there really aren’t. This is just unbelievable. The RedBulls better win MLS Cup this year for me to even feel slightly better.
OMG the finishing tonite was just atrocious and please excuse me while I puke and cry at the same time.
168! WTF?
damn, i really should get started on my homework
BRING BACK BORA!!!
There were also, oddly enough, several questionable offsides calls which went against Mexico.
It looks like tonight is all about insanity in sports…or…if you will…March Madness.
The Denver Nuggets just beat the Seattle SuperSonics 168-116.
I hope Hugo doesn’t get fired. The USMNT needs to keep beating Mexico.
does anyone have a source or link for the rules on the second tiebreaker?
some people have said it was 1) GOAL DIFF; 2) GOALS AGAINST; 3) HEAD TO HEAD
but others say it was 1) GOAL DIFF 2) GOALS FOR; 3) HEAD TO HEAD.
I’m just wondering if Mexico needed 1 goal or 2 to move on at the end? (6-1 score or 7-1?)_
Ok, let’s try to recap what we just witnessed tonight….
1) Three red cards to one team (one for a guy on the bench)
2) Several 4 on 0 breaks ..#19 missing quite a few it seemed.
3) A missed PK
4) A man of the match performance by a keeper who gave up 5 goals
5) A team that won 5-1, but still does not go through
Continue on if I am missing something.
Dano, no idea, but it looked to me like all the Haitian defenders at least were in on it, so I’d start there…
And Christian, I understand the Mexican fan reaction right now is disbelief at all the missed chances, but really, did you see the chances? Countless 5-on-0’s with no Haitian defenders even running? Something illegitimate was going on. Even if the Haitian defenders were lazy and didn’t want to run, there was no reason for them to do so at midfield.
He’s right. Mexico finally got a win on US soil 😉
I don’t think Hugo gets fired. He was playing without his 3 best players: Dos Santos, Vela and Guardado(all playing in La Liga). And it’s not his fault his team doesn’t know how to finish (not even a PK).
Christian, please explain what just happened in a non shady mannor
the more the Mexicans missed, the more chances the Hations GAVE them
Christian…Haiti was reduced to 9 towards the end….just a minor edit.
What would you like US fans to do?
Cry because Mexico is out?
Mexico A fuera!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yaaaaaayyyyyy.
I guess you cant blame the field tonight Mexico… hmm who you going to blame now?
Mexico sucks.
you guys are retarded if you think mexico payed off the haitians. i mean, did you just watch the same game as me? I’m extremely dissapointed that we didn’t go through after all that crap but honestly, if you can’t beat a 10 man Haitian team after endless scoring opportunities then we just don’t deserve to go to the olympics. It’s gonna be interesting seeing you guys go up against Canada and all I can say is don’t take them lightly, they got heart.
BTW some of you guys really are pathetic with your reactions to our loss, I mean I understand our rivalry and everything but wow.
Anyway, good luck against Canada and I hope you do CONCACAF proud in Beijing.
Being a former great player gets you a lot of breaks. Otherwise Kevin Keegan wouldn’t be a manager in the Premiership. But, Hugo’s luck may be done. He can go coach the Philly expansion team in MLS now.
If he is not fired I think it would be safe to say that Hugo Sanchez is the Mexican version of Isiah Thomas
So is Canada going to be a cake walk or what? I know there senior team has been improving recently, but I don’t know much about their olympic squad. They got a couple of TFC players right? Would have liked to see the US and Canada in the olympics, but you cant always get what you want.
is there anyone who can put some of the highlights of this spectacle up on youtube? Didn’t see the match but sounds like another concacaf classic
maybe haiti was trying to make back the money they lost on bear stearns.
haiti tried. they just simply didn’t keep anyone back. they ran around with great speed and a good bit of skill. my guess is that the coach is the culprit…not really difficult to figure that out.
Yeah, some bench player was walking away…
Mexico is out and Sanchez is out. What a look on Hugo’s mug. Total dejection. Wild game.
just to clarify, did a hatian bench player get sent off?
since i only saw the last 15 mins and i dont hablo espanol i couldnt quite follow all the crazyness until i logged on here. That looked like haiti throwing a game to me but mexico still couldnt finish! How many 4 on 0 breaks did they get? I think FIFA needs to take a look at this game
The Haitian goalkeeper plays at Le Havre in France’s Ligue 2.
Agreed Joamiq, but honestly, where would you start looking, at the head ref or the players? I thought the head ref showed that red to the mexican #10, then a Haitian is walking off the field.
Can’t wait to sing the Olympic anthem to Mexicans.
That was the most insane thing I have ever seen on a soccer field…and I was there when Amado Guevara pretended to get hit in the face with a towel.
We have a saying were i come from…
SHA NA NA NA NA, SHA NA NA NA, HEY HEY HEY GOODBYE
golden generation? More like golden shower generation!!!!
Had Memo not choked thyed have had the goals!!
NO SE PUDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO SE PUDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Haitian GK really did deserve the MOTM, seemed like he was the only guy not in white that was trying.
Wow. On the one hand, Haiti really needs to learn how to milk the clock. On the other hand, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Haiti for never learning to milk the clock. I got to see the second half of the match, which was one of the most exciting halves I’ve seen in a long time.
That is awsome, two great high scoring games, and now the US get to play Canada. Hugo Sanchez proves just cuz you are a great player your not going to be a great manager. Sorry Mexico but things are just getting worse for your progam.
LETS GO USA!!!
I suggest we simply claim that south of th us is CONMEBOL
Haitian keeper plays in France with Le Havre
Haitian keeper is a deserving winner of Player of the Game, given that he was the only player playing for Haiti…
Hugo, take the train back to Mexico!! it will give you more time to think about your failure…..should had left Ramirez coach your team!! your Ego got you!! Looser!!!!
jf,
half a joke?
Someone needs to sign that keeper !!!!!!
There needs to be an investigation into this match. What we just saw makes absolutely no sense.
Groovester, where do you suggest the US go? I mean, I know Australia switched to the Asian federation, but Oceania is lucky to even exist, so the Aussies had an excuse. The only plausible solution would be to switch to CONMEBOL but how in the world would we be able to get FIFA to approve that?
Instant Classico…
I have never seen anything like that game in my life. How many times was the Haitian defense “beaten” and Mexico still couldn’t score. Absolutely amazing!