No AZTECAZO

Mexico defeated Costa Rica last Saturday in Mexico DF. Mexico played a regular game, but enough to beat a very shy Costarican team. The first 19 minutes of the game were dominated by the visiting team, the Ticos were handling the ball and keeping a very steady flow of the game. But then, thanks to a deffensive mistake, Omar Bravo scored… and then it was just downhill.

The Costarican midfield started fading and the strikers were left alone. The second goal was scored by Pavel Pardo. It was a penalty kick, and I am not really sure if it really was one, but it didn´t matter because in that moment Mexico was clearly dominating the game. No excuses…

It seems to me that if Costa Rica would have jumped into the pitch with a different mentality, we could have done much better because Mexico was not so punishing like in other games. But oh well, it was a tough lesson.

Now El Salvador is next. They played a good game agaisnt team USA in San Salvador, but they will be missing 3 players here in San Jose on next Wednesday (Quintanilla, Escobar, and Castillo) because of bookings and injuries. Winning at home is the key in this final qualifiers round, and I think Costa Rica will wrap it up. I´m expecting a 2-0 win.

Costa Rica stands second with Mexico.