An old and overused maxim of soccer friendlies, or exhibition matches, is that they are “anything but.” It usually refers to the intensity of play, but when Mexico’s national team came to town on Feb. 28 for a friendly at Qualcomm stadium, it was anything but an exhibition match to the 63,328 fans who turned up. Indeed, from the many barbeques in the massive parking lot to the festive atmosphere inside for 90 minutes, a Mexican soccer match is a four-hour party. And on the field, their beloved “El Tricolores” didn’t disappoint, winning 3-1 quite comfortably against an outmatched Venezuela.
With unlimited substitutions and motives beyond simply the scoreline, friendlies often don’t produce the finest of displays. Yet Mexico took advantage of the evening against Venezuela, a country in which baseball far exceeds soccer in both popularity and in producing and exporting talent.
Fue solo el segundo partido de México bajo el liderazgo del nuevo entrenador Hugo Sánchez, el legendario delantero de México y antiguo jugador de los San Diego Soccers. Luego de una vergonzosa derrota por 2-0 ante EE. UU. hace tres semanas, El Tri tenía algo que demostrarse a sus fanáticos ya sí mismo.
Sanchez decided not to recall any of Mexico’s European club-based stars, such as center back Rafa Marquez, nor some of his longtime domestic talents, including striker Jared Borgetti or keeper Oswaldo Sanchez. However, the crowd’s roars of admiration for established strikers Francesco “Kikin” Fonseca and Cuauhtemoc Blanco, and up-and-coming midfielder Andres Guardado, signaled that they were to be treated to a show.
Sure enough, Mexico’s intentions were just this from the starting whistle. After a nervy, scrappy start, things calmed down as Mexico laid siege to Venezuela’s goal, while it was clear Venezuela intended to always put 10 men behind the ball and try to catch Mexico’s defense exposed on any counterattacks they could create. Mexico began to show its quality seven minutes in when Blanco missed a header on a great cross from Fernando Arce. Nevertheless, it was a sign of things to come as Mexico began sending quality pinpoint crosses into the box. No matter that Venezuela parked the bus in front of goal, Mexico’s attack showed the quality to unlock even a packed defense, which, when not winning them corner kicks, kept the Venezuelan keeper plenty busy.
Sure enough, on one of these corners, the taker found Guardado on the edge of the box instead of sending it into the mix. Guardado took it on the volley to the far post, catching everyone off guard, including the keeper.
México no se quedó sin ideas. Los jugadores cambiaron el ángulo de ataque, confiaron solo en la habilidad para correr directamente hacia la defensa, como lo hizo Fonseca y casi logró abrirse paso unos minutos más tarde. En defensa, El Tri invadió a Venezuela, sabiendo que carecían de la calidad para llevar el balón más allá del medio campo de México.
At 35 minutes, Mexico doubled its lead. The Venezuelan defense was a shambles as Guardado, out on the left, found Arce sneaking in behind the back line on the right and picked him out with a wonderful cross, which Arce took on the volley from five yards out, slotting it home at the far post past the helpless keeper.
El Tri buscó hacer las tres antes del descanso. Blanco, que dirigía magistralmente el ataque, abrió un hueco en la defensa con un pase de regla de cálculo justo por el medio que Arce encontró al final, pero su disparo se fue desviado.
The second half brought more of the same, and Mexico wasted no time capitalizing. Only one minute in, Venezuela made a mess of clearing the ball and Juan Carlos Medina was felled in the penalty area. Blanco, captain for the evening, converted to give Mexico a three-goal lead.
This lead, combined with the nature of a friendly, meant boss Hugo Sanchez brought on plenty of substitutions. The electricity of the second half decreased while the number of paper airplanes heaved from the upper deck increased proportionally. However, a harmless field invasion by three fans brought back a massive roar of applause from the crowd. Despite Mexico’s defense growing complacent and lazy, Venezuela failed to capitalize much until the 83rd minute, when substitute striker Daniel Arismendi latched onto a wonderfully placed ball right through a flat-footed Mexican back line and softly tapped it past the onrushing keeper to add a bit of dignity to the scoreline. Mexico was made to pay for lazy defending, just as it had against the USA, but it was too little, too late for Venezuela.
Tras el partido, Sánchez dijo estar “muy contento” con el resultado.
“They earned my esteem … I’m glad to get the win here,” Sanchez said. “I have lots of good memories of San Diego (from his days with the San Diego Soccers) and felt confident my team would win.”
Guardado ganó los honores de hombre del partido después de un gol, una asistencia y un disparo tardío al travesaño.