- September, 05 2009 -
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SAN JOSE - Mexico moved closer to earning a berth in next year’s World Cup in South Africa with a 3-0 win against Costa Rica Saturday at Ricardo Saprissa stadium.
What is normally a loud and hostile environment in San Jose, Costa Rica, was mostly a silent venue after Mexico’s Giovanni Dos Santos, Guillermo Franco and Andres Guardado scored for El Tri.
Costa Rica fans made their way to the exit after Guardado sent in the final score of the night in the 68th minute, putting the match out of reach for the Ticos.
Guardado took a pass from Dos Santos during a two-on-one situation, broke away on a counter attack and beat Costa Rica goalkeeper Keilor Navas for the goal.
It was a score that ensured a needed three points for Mexico. The win helped El Tri move past Costa Rica, the previous leader in the group standings, into third place in the hexagonal round of qualifying.
El Tri sits behind Honduras and the United States who lead the group with 13 points. Mexico has 12 points with three matches remaining. Costa Rica also has 12, but stands behind El Tri with a minus-three goal differential compared to Mexico’s plus-two.
The top three teams receive an automatic berth, while the fourth-place team faces the fifth-place team from South America in a home and away playoff.
Mexico has won three qualifying matches in a row since losing to El Salvador in June to come out of a slump when it appeared El Tri would have trouble qualifying.
Coach Javier Aguirre’s team since has beaten teams considered to be the powerhouses of the region (the United States 2-1 last month and Costa Rica Saturday).
Aguirre can thank in part the fluid brand of soccer against Costa Rica for his team’s latest outing.
Mexico sealed the win - it's first on the road in the hexagonal- with Guardado’s goal which came on a counter-attack.
Efrain Juarez helped create the play after breaking away from two defenders near the sideline. He sent a long pass from left to right across the field, finding a wide open Dos Santos.
Dos Santos added another assist in the 63rd minute when he fed Franco a soft pass to his left, beating Nava. Franco tapped in the ball with his left foot for a 2-0 lead.
Dos Santos not only added an assist but a goal of his own.
He gave El Tri a 1-0 halftime lead with a left-footed blast from about 25-yards out.
The 20-year-old striker sent a Cuauhtemoc Blanco cross-field pass from left to right into the lower-left corner of the net seconds before the halftime whistle.
Navas didn’t have a chance at a save.
Dos Santos' score was his fifth with the senior team. He was part of the Under-17 World Cup championship team in 2005.
It was a goal that gave the match some life after a physical first half in which five players received yellow cards.
Both teams vied for control of the midfield with Mexico winning possession. But El Tri had three veterans shown yellow cards by referee Neal Brizan.
Mexico captain Gerardo Torrado, Ricardo Osorio and Blanco were booked.
Costa Rica ’s Cristian Oviedo and Armando Alonso also received yellow cards.
Alonso was booked in the 44th minute for elbowing Osorio in the face while both men fought for a ball in the air near Mexico’s penalty area.
Alonso got enough of Osorio that the Mexican defender’s right eye began to swell.
While some players exchanged blows and hard fouls, Mexico tried to find a way to break the scoreless tie by feeding forward Guillermo Franco the ball.
Franco, who was subbed by Guardado in the 68th minute, couldn’t find the back of the net despite a handful of looks at goal.
Perhaps the clearest came in the 21st minute when Franco failed to get a comfortable shot via a header off a Blanco floating pass in the penalty area.
Blanco found Franco sneaking behind the Ticos backline with the lobbed pass, but Franco’s soft header went straight into the hands of Navas.
Mexico ’s first chance at goal came in the 12th minute. Franco sent a header wide right off a Blanco corner kick.
Franco took another shot at goal four minutes later, sending a left-footed shot just inches wide to the left of Navas.
Blanco had a shot on goal of his own in the 25th minute. He took a Juarez pass from about 20 yards out.
Blanco, who helped generate most of Mexico’s attack, will miss El Tri’s next World Cup qualifier Wednesday against Honduras for yellow card accumulation.
Saturday’s match was also a rematch of a dramatic Gold Cup semifinal in July where Mexico squeezed past the Ticos on penalty kicks in Chicago .
Costa Rica has lost two qualifiers in a row. It also dropped a 2-0 decision to Mexico at Estadio Azteca in March in the team’s first meeting in hexagonal qualifying.
Source: concacaf.com
