High on Azteca crowd frenzy, Mexico tell Ecuador to take ‘offence’ seriously

Whenever a sports team plays at their home stadium, they are said to have a so-called ‘home advantage’. In football, people often say, there is a normal level of home advantage, and then there is the Azteca, and Mexico proved that statement to be scarily true tonight. With a sea of green pushing them on, Mexico put on an absolute clinic to beat Ecuador 2-0, and win their first-ever knockout game in FIFA World Cup since 1986, which was also coincidentally at the Azteca.

El Tri, not to be confused with Ecuador who are known as La Tri, produced one of the most dominant first halves that we have seen in this tournament and went up 2 goals, thanks to Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez. After that half, all they had to do was sit back for another 45 minutes until the referee blew the whistle so that the celebrations could officially get underway in Mexico City. 

The Azteca might be one of the toughest stadiums for an away team to play at. Known as the Cathedral of Football, the stadium sits at about 2,200 metres above sea level, already creating a physical challenge for the visitors. But the real reason teams dread playing there are the 80,000 ferociously passionate Mexican fans that fill the seats. It was no different today, and both Mexico’s brilliance and Ecuador’s collapse could be attributed to the atmosphere in the stadium. 

From the moment of kickoff, Mexico were playing at a completely different level to Ecuador. Before tonight, they had performed well in a poor group, winning all three of their games and conceding zero goals, but there were still doubters about their ability to face a defensively strong team. Before the result tonight, Ecuador might have been one of the top candidates for that label, but within 22 minutes, Mexico silenced all the doubters. Making a run from his own half, winger Julian Quinones received a long ball from Roberto Alvarado and continued down the pitch into the Ecuadorian box before taking a powerful shot into the back of the net. There was nothing for Ecuadorian goalkeeper Hernan Galindez to do about that strike as Quinones gave Mexico an early 1-0 lead. It was terrible defending from Ecuador as Quinones was afforded so much space and luxury to run into. For a team renowned for their defensive ability, it was just the start of a poor performance that would soon grow worse. 

Quinones, who has been having an amazing tournament so far, then set up Raul Jimenez in the 31st minute for Mexico’s second. A poor clearance from Ecuadorian centre back Joel Ordonez found its way to the charging Jimenez, who took the ball to the edge of the penalty arc, and passed it to Quinones. Quinones then passes it back to Jimenez in the back, and with four yellow Ecuadorian shirts pressing down on him, he takes a shot that nestled perfectly into the top right corner of the box. The Azteca roared as Mexico took a 2-0 lead, with the Ecuadorian players seemingly praying for the half-time whistle to blow. But it was already too late, Mexico had created an impassable barrier for Ecuador with their second goal, and the game had been put to rest even before the second half was played. 

For Ecuador, they can only look back at tonight with shame. A team that came into the World Cup as many people’s dark horse due to its defensive strength, bowed out early due to that very system collapsing. Ecuador are such a lopsided team, where their defensive strength is almost balanced out by the offensive weakness. But if such a team can’t do the thing that they’re known for (defence), they’re banking on their weakness (offence) to pull them out of danger. However, after their performance today, it seemed like Ecuador weren’t particularly good at either. Both the Mexican goals were due to sloppy defending and lazy mistakes. Not once today did the Ecuadorian players look even ten per cent as lively or alert as their Mexican opposition. They went down two goals early which gave them ample time to change tactics and try a comeback. But the Ecuadorian effort in the second half consisted mainly of a lot of passing between the backline before an inevitable turnover of the ball. They were outplayed and out-coached, but most of all, they just never seemed like they were playing to win.

A lot of questions have to be asked about head coach Sebastian Beccacece, but the biggest one has to be about his insistence to start Enner Valencia during this tournament. Valencia, a veteran striker, has had an awful tournament and Ecuador have looked at their best offensively when he is off the pitch. He slows down every attack, doesn’t make any runs in behind, and when given a chance to shoot, he sends it wide. Beccacece still started him in the most important game of the tournament for Ecuador and La Tri paid the price today. 

For Mexico, there were a lot of positives from today’s performance. They grabbed the game by the jugular and put it to rest before Ecuador even got a chance to blink. They had an easy second half, converting to a more defensive formation and letting Ecuador keep the majority of possession. A particular bright spot for the team was the young sensation Gilberto Mora, who became the second-youngest player ever to start in a World Cup knockout game (after Pele, of course). He almost started the Mexican party early with a curler in the 15th minute that barely blew wide off the post. A fan-favourite at the Azteca, he put in a good performance before his substitution in the 58th minute.

Another honourable mention should go to goalkeeper Raul Rangel, who has been excellent in this tournament so far. Prior to the tournament he faced the gargantuan task of stepping into Mexican legend Guillermo Ochoa’s shoes, but it’s safe to say that he has been successful so far, conceding zero goals. Mexico will now face the winner of the game between England and DR Congo in their round of 16 match on July 5, which will be played at the Azteca. Whoever the eventual winners end up being, between England and DR Congo, I’m sure they watched Ecuador’s performance today and are already dreading the atmosphere at the Azteca. With the full force of the Azteca, perhaps this is finally the tournament where Mexico will make it past the round of 16 for the first time since 1986.