Mexico Shocks Brazil 2-0 Before a Record Crowd at Cowboys Stadium
By Matt Barbour
Arlington, TX – Mexico and Brazil played an internationally friendly in front of a loud, festive audience at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday. The Brazilians brought a young team in preparation for this summer’s Olympic Games in London while Mexico went with a more experienced squad in anticipation of the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. In the end, the winner was the Cowboys Stadium crowd itself (along with Jerry Jones’ pocket) as the 84,516 in attendance set a record for the largest crowd to ever attend a soccer match in Texas. The crowd later topped themselves by setting a world record for the longest wave in history. The cherry on top for Mexico’s green-clad fans, who were about 90% of the crowd, was seeing a very impressive performance by their beloved El Tri.
Mexico clearly showed they were more concerned with getting a good result when the starting lineups were announced. They came out in a defensive 5-3-2, while the more attack-minded Brazilians started out in a 4-3-3. Early on, Brazil had a hard time mounting consistent attacking pressure and they did not display their trademark possession and flair with the ball. A 10’ minute goal by forward Leandro Damiao (Internacional) that was waved off when Damiao was ruled offside turned out to be the Selação’s best scoring opportunity of the half. A large portion of Brazil’s problem was that young prodigy Neymar (Santos), who gave the United States fits a week earlier, was completely shut down by Mexico’s Severo Meza (Monterrey). At the same time, Mexico’s defend and counter tactics looked like they would have a hard time yielding any fruit as their wide outlets were consistently run down by Brazil’s outside backs.
But then El Tri began switching the play quicker on the initial outlet pass after Brazil turnovers, and this
caused Brazil’s young back line problems in coverage and resulted in more dangerous opportunities. Mexico’s strategy paid off in the ’22 minute on a somewhat fortuitous goal by forward Giovanni dos Santos (Tottenham Hotspur). He received the ball just outside of Brazil’s eighteen-yard-box off of a fantastic sixty-yard, cross-field switch by midfielder Pablo Barrera (West Ham United). Dos Santos lightly dribbled the ball a couple of times with his left foot before making a sharp move to his left that created some space close to the endline. He then popped the ball upwards with his left foot in what looked like a cross for Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez (Manchester United), who was making a near-post run. The cross went high and long over Chicharito’s head, but also right over Brazilian keeper Rafael Sóbis’ (Fluminense) outstretched arms and into the side of the net from the very tight angle. 1-0 Mexico.
Barely ten minutes later, Cowboys Stadium absolutely exploded when Dos Santos earned a very questionable penalty kick off of nominal contact from Brazilian defender Juan (Roma). Chicharito took the spot kick and struck it hard and true and Mexico had a fairly surprising 2-0 lead. After the game, Hernandez said he felt good about the penalty and that, “…I was happy that I could score and I could help my team. The most important thing is we won against Brazil as we know they are an excellent national team.”
Brazil created far more shots as they had a 7-1 advantage in that category at the half, but it was Mexico that created the more threatening counterattacking chances and deserved to be ahead. Brazil had only the offsides goal by Damaio and a wicked shot by Oscar (Internacional) that truly troubled Mexican keeper Jesus Corona (Cruz Azul).
The second half saw Brazil ramp up the pressure only to be turned away time and again by Corona, who was my Man of the Match. Alexandre Pato (AC Milan) came on for Damiao in the ’60 minute and proceeded to miss a glorious chance set up for him by fellow forward Hulk (FC Porto). Hulk smashed the ball hard and low through the six-yard box and Pato was perfectly positioned to put the ball past Corona, but instead he completely whiffed on Brazil’s best opportunity of the afternoon. Later, Hulk insinuated part of the blame for their less than crisp performance was the temporary grass field. He was complimentary of Mexico’s game, but critical of the pitch, saying it, “…gave us difficulties.”
Neymar’s frustrations on the day had less to do with the pitch and more to do with his inability to shake Meza. In the ’82 minute, Neymar’s frustrations came to a head and he completely lost his composure. He and Meza tangled over the ball near the sidelines and engaged in some very minor shoving as the play moved past them. Instead of going on with the game, Neymar spit into Meza’s face. Meza grabbed Neymar by the throat and shoved him to the ground. Each player was subsequently yellow carded, though either (or both) could have seen red.
Overall, Mexico put on an impressive performance that has to be a bit disheartening to USMNT fans that saw their team play well in stretches against Brazil, but ultimately lost 4-1. Mexico looked strong and composed in defense and was patient yet lethal in their counterattacks. If World Cup qualifying goes as expected, the North American neighbors will renew their bitter rivalry next year in the hexagonal (final qualifying round).
See more exclusive SportDFW pictures from the game and media day on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.248228848614566.45617.190562487714536&type=3&l=f88e62e170
Ready to join the SportDFW Nation? Check us out on Facebook, Twitter or contact us at therealsportdfw@gmail.com