For the first 45 minutes, the Mexican World Cup team appeared to be cruising to victory in their final North American tuneup match at Levi’s Stadium on Tuesday night.
They built a 2-0 first half lead against Colombia, which seemed to have little to play for after failing to qualify for Qatar. But the South American side roared back with three second half goals to earn a 3-2 victory, sending many of the 67,311 fans in attendance home unhappy.
While the final score is ultimately unimportant, the Colombians exposed weaknesses in Mexican fullbacks Gerardo Arteaga and Kevin Alvarez by making incisive runs down the flanks. The match also left many fans questioning the substitutions made (or not made) by Mexico’s coach, Gerardo “Tata” Martino.
The Mexican team was also missing several key players due to injury, including Rogelio Funes Mori, Luis Romo, Jorge Sanchez, Raul Jimenez, and Hector Herrera.
Mexico Jumps Out to an Early Lead
As the game began, El Tri was creative and energetic, challenging for possession and moving the ball around quickly to put pressure on the Colombian defense.
Mexico earned a penalty kick in the 4th minute, when Colombia’s Luis Diaz barreled into Uriel Antuna from behind. Alexis Vega converted it with powerful right-footed blast.
Colombia started to possess more of the ball in the final 25 minutes of the half, but Mexico doubled their lead in the 29th minute. Erick Gutierrez’s through ball appeared to be headed for Vega at the top of the penalty arc, but Vega let it run through to Arteaga, who trapped the ball with his left foot, took a couple of dribbles and blasted it into the upper left corner.
And the Mexicans nearly added a third in the 43rd minute when Henry Martin stripped the ball from Colombian defender Carlos Cuesta along the touchline. Vega was open in the box but couldn’t find his footing to make the final strike.
Colombia Grabs Control in the Second Half
Martino made no substitutions at halftime, while Colombian coach Néstor Lorenzo made three. One of those substitutes, Luis Sinisterra, turned the game around by scoring twice in less than three minutes.
In the 49th minute, Sinisterra timed his leap perfectly to head home a corner kick from Juan Cuadrado. He evened the match in the 52nd minute when substitute Jorge Carrascal made a run down the right side and cut the ball back for an unmarked Sinisterra for the easy finish.
Martino made four substitutes in the 61st minute, but by then, Colombia was poised to take control. Wilmer Barrios capped off Colombia’s great second half in the 68th minute, with a powerful volley from the edge of the penalty arc, on a lob from Rafael Santos Borre.
Martino made two more substitutions in the 76th minute, bringing on Diego Lainez for
Antuna and Orbelin Pineda for Gutierrez, but Mexico was unable to find an equalizer. Vega did have a shot in stoppage time, but his blast from beyond the penalty area was barely wide of the left post.
The mood of the crowd quickly turned from celebratory to largely silent, and the anger of a few turned ugly in the 82nd minute when the referee stopped play after hearing a homophobic chant aimed at the Colombian goalkeeper.
In the post-game press conference, Lorenzo said he was happy with the result of his second match in charge since taking over the job in June. His first was a 4-1 victory over Guatemala last Saturday in New Jersey.
“In the first half, Mexico played very well and full of confidence. After five minutes and losing, it was complicated,” Lorenzo said. “By the second half, we pressed high, with intensity, we scored immediately and they suffered for the second half.”
But Lorenzo did not want to try and quantify his group’s overall progress.
“The changes have to be small, but permanent. We have to consolidate situations and societies, which sometimes go well and sometimes badly,” he said. “It’s a long way and we have to continue growing, I don’t want to talk about percentages because they don’t exist, [I’d] rather talk about growth and steps [that] are being taken.”
Martino defended his team’s performance.
“My obligation is to say that, recognizing we lost a game that we were winning 2-0, we weren’t ‘erased’ from the field,” he said. “We had 15 minutes when we weren’t concentrated, when we lost our mark on a set piece, when they scored a third goal that no matter where you analyze it from, is nearly impossible to stop.”
Ultimately, Martino focused on the lessons to be learned for Mexico as they get ready to take on tougher opposition in Qatar.
“My takeaway will be us playing a first half that was among the best in four years, even with the potential of scoring another goal, and going to look for the equalizer in the last 15 minutes with a lot of young guys playing some of their first games with the national team.”