2002 FIFA World Cup (tm) Finals - Results & Fixtures - Mexico vs Ecuador

9 Jun 2002


Mexico	2 - 1	Ecuador
	(HT: 1 - 1)

Game Details
Venue Miyagi Stadium	Attendance 45610
Referee Mourad Daami (TUN) Assistant Referees Taoufik Adjengui (TUN) Haidar Koleit (LIB)

Game Events
#	Date	Player	Event	Period	Mins	H/A
1	9 Jun 2002	Agustin Delgado	Goal	First Half	5	A
2	9 Jun 2002	Ivan Kaviedes	Yellow Card	First Half	15	A
3	9 Jun 2002	Jose Fransisco Cevallos	Yellow Card	First Half	27	A
4	9 Jun 2002	Jared Borgetti	Goal	First Half	28	H
5	9 Jun 2002	Edwin Tenorio	Player Out	First Half	35	A
6	9 Jun 2002	Marlon Ayovi	Substitute In	First Half	35	A
7	9 Jun 2002	Raul Guerron	Yellow Card	Second Half	4	A
8	9 Jun 2002	Ivan Kaviedes	Player Out	Second Half	8	A
9	9 Jun 2002	Carlos Tenorio	Substitute In	Second Half	8	A
10	9 Jun 2002	Gerardo Torrado	Goal	Second Half	12	H
11	9 Jun 2002	Alfonso Obregon	Player Out	Second Half	13	A
12	9 Jun 2002	Alex Aguinaga	Substitute In	Second Half	13	A
13	9 Jun 2002	Carlos Tenorio	Yellow Card	Second Half	16	A
14	9 Jun 2002	Gerardo Torrado	Yellow Card	Second Half	20	H
15	9 Jun 2002	Jared Borgetti	Player Out	Second Half	32	H
16	9 Jun 2002	Luis Hernandez	Substitute In	Second Half	32	H
17	9 Jun 2002	Agustin Delgado	Yellow Card	Second Half	42	A
18	9 Jun 2002	Johan Rodriguez	Player Out	Second Half	42	H
19	9 Jun 2002	Gabriel Caballero	Substitute In	Second Half	42	H
20	9 Jun 2002	Cuauhtemoc Blanco	Player Out	Second Half	48	H
21	9 Jun 2002	Sigifredo Mercado	Substitute In	Second Half	48	H

Match report

Mexico made hard work of beating lowly Ecuador 2-1 in their World Cup Group G match, a result which leaves the race for the two qualifying places wide open. Midfielder Gerardo Torrado hammered home the winner with a cracking left shot from outside the box in the 57th minute to put Mexico in the driving seat with two victories out of two. But with their final game against Italy, the Mexicans are still not certain of going through and the most likely scenario is that three of group's four teams will finish on six points as Croatia are clear favourites to beat the Ecuadoreans. If that is the case, it will all come down to goal difference and the Mexicans might yet live to rue the fact that they did not knock more past Ecuador here, as the Italians already won by two clear goals.
Mexican coach Javier Aguirre admitted that his side's place in the second round still hung in the balance. "I am very happy with the result but now we have no option but to go all out for victory and three points against Italy," he said.
Ecuador stunned the Mexicans by taking an early lead when giant striker Agustin Delgado rose high to send an unstoppable header past diminutive Mexican goalkeeper Oscar Perez from Ulises de la Cruz's right wing cross after just five minutes for the country's first World Cup goal but the two sides were level at 1-1 by half-time. Delgado, who played in the Mexican league with Necaxa until his big money move to English Premiership side Southampton last season, has only just returned from a long lay-off due to extensive surgery on a knee injury and notched his 22nd goal in 48 games for his country. But it was Ecuador's only serious assault on goal in the half as the Mexicans took almost total control, with around 80 percent of the ball, even though all the good approach work by Braulio Luna and Ramon Morales was swallowed up by the confident Ecuador defence. However, it was only a matter of time before Mexico made their territorial superiority tell and the equaliser came in the 28th minute when Jared Borgetti deftly turned Morales' cross past Jose Cevallos in the Ecuador goal. Five minutes before the break, Joahan Rodriguez broke away but was checked by the Ecuador defence and scrambled the ball to Cuauhtemoc Blanco whose low shot lacked power and was held by Cevallos. A minute later, Blanco chipped the ball over the defence but Cevallos was again equal to the task, gathering it before Luna could reach it. It was a similar story after the break as Mexico pressed forward, although with somewhat less enthusisam as attack after attack foundered on some good, solid defending and it took just the one decisive moment of skill by Torrado to make the difference. Borgetti stormed through in the last 20 minutes but his shot clipped the post and went behind to safety and it took a smart save from Perez with his legs from the lively Carlos Tenorio eight minutes from the end to ensure Mexico held out as Ecuador finished strongly, still seeking the equaliser. In the dying minutes, Marlon Ayovi had a perfect chance to snatch a point when he was teed up for a shot by Alex Aguinaga but he fired wide. In a game which was played in a friendly spirit, the referee booked six players, five of them from Ecuador. In injury time, Blanco drew a fine save out of Cevallos as the 'keeper got down smartly to turn a low shot behind.

(courtesy of dailysoccer)




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Page created by Christakis Ioannou on 9 June 2002 22:23:42.