Mexico 1 Honduras 0
July 2 – The question on the lips of pundits and fans at Levi Stadium, Santa Clara, was “would tonight be business as usual or unusual business?” as Mexico and Honduras met for the right to face the United States in the Concacaf Gold Cup Final on Sunday in Houston.
After 90 pulsating minutes, it would be the former, as Mexico did what they usually do in an exciting, hard-fought 1-0 win.
Both Javier Aguirre and Reinaldo Rueda kept faith with the starting XIs that had taken care of Saudi Arabia and Panama in their respective quarter-finals, and with a game-time temperature of 69 degrees, the conditions were perfect for football (take note, FIFA).
In the 1st minute, Mexico created the first opportunity when Roberto Alvarado dragged his shot horribly wide after a nice interchange of passes, and within three minutes the ‘Mexican’ wave was rolling around the stadium as the biggest crowd of the tournament to date (65,000) created a festive atmosphere that lasted until the 10th minute.
An innocent-looking throw-in caused a full baseball-style clearing of the benches. The legend Guillermo Ochoa might not be starting in goal for the Tricolor anymore, but he’s certainly starting the needle, becoming the first player to enter Costa Rican referee Juan Calderón’s notebook.
The pace picked up. The challenges had extra spice, and in the 24th minute another melee erupted. Cue 20 players meeting in a space the size of a telephone booth after Luis Crisanto stepped on the ankle of Alexis Vega with some vigor. Vega reacted with a flailing leg that on another day might have warranted more attention.
For Los Catrachos, Dixon Ramírez was pulling off his best Forrest Gump impersonation because “boy could he run.” Any opportunity to stretch his legs brought the thousands of blue and white fans to their feet. In the 31st minute, yet another lung-buster forced a routine save out of Luis Malagón.
The tackles, which were spicy, now stepped up to flaming hot as Raúl Jiménez was unceremoniously booted into the air, causing his bench to stand as one, gesticulating at referee Calderón, who was becoming increasingly busy.
In the 35th minute, Anthony Lozano entered Calderón’s book, and from the resulting free-kick some pinball wizardry occurred as the ball took a couple of crazy deflections before ending up in the grateful arms of Honduran goalkeeper Edrick Menjívar, who was called into further action just minutes later.
Brilliant build-up play from Mexico involving multiple players and quick angled passes saw Marcel Ruíz ping his shot towards the bottom right corner. Menjívar was down quickly to parry and then bravely dived at the feet of the onrushing Alvarado to concede a corner for the last action of a highly competitive 45 minutes.
The second half began with Jiménez getting kicked on multiple occasions. It was as though he was a human piñata; however, if you hit a piñata enough times, goodies invariably fall out.
In the 50th minute, Honduras had kicked him enough, and his 42nd international goal spilled out with a rifled right-footed shot that had too much pace for Menjívar. Gilberto Mora was credited with the assist; however, Alvarado gets the hidden assist for a superb dummy run that wrong-footed the entire Honduran back line, creating the space for Jiménez.
A minute later, Mexico thought they had doubled their lead. Jiménez was kicked again, and from the resulting free-kick a series of deflections had Menjívar scrambling, allowing Edson Álvarez to tap home from six inches out. The players gathered on the center circle as Calderón held his finger to his ear.
Two minutes became three before he was called over by the video assistant referee (VAR) to look at a foul, handball, no… offside! Isn’t that what VAR is for?
Without the use of lines and just his eyes, Calderón adjudged Álvarez to be offside and chalked off the goal after six minutes. I suppose VAR was taking the night off.
With the reprieve, La Bicolor picked up the pace of what was already becoming a frantic game; however, any forays upfield were met by a Mexico team that surrounded the player and the ball like rabid dogs, in a display of top-class defending.
With time ticking down, both teams picked up a succession of yellow cards as Calderón was developing tendinitis of the shoulder from lifting his arm up to signify another caution. Yustin Arboleda and Kervin Arriaga from Honduras followed by Jesús Orozco, Érik Lira, and Julián Araujo of Mexico all went into the book.
The Araujo caution prompted another cartoon-like dust-up of pushing, shoving, and slapping as tempers were reaching the critical boiling point.
Seven minutes of additional time was displayed… it felt at least five minutes short. A young fan evaded security and made a beeline for Santiago Giménez for a selfie. The star striker obliged and even signed the kid’s shirt before the youngster was escorted off the premises.
Try as they might, Honduras couldn’t create the one golden opportunity to truly test Malagón, as he posted his fourth consecutive clean sheet, and Los Catrachos’ brave run in the Gold Cup ends with their heads held high.
Mexico once again did enough. Some of their football is excellent, but they struggle with consistency; however, in Raúl Jiménez, they have the outstanding player of the tournament.
Now they’ll face the USA in the dream matchup for Concacaf. The Gold Cup title is at stake, and Jiménez will square off with his former Fulham teammate Tim Ream for the right to be called champions on Sunday in Houston.
It will be box office!
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1751604566labto1751604566ofdlr1751604566owedi1751604566sni@o1751604566fni1751604566