Mexico joins Brazil in the knockouts from Group A

Mexico had it easy in the end against Croatia as they qualified from Group A as Brazil sealed their spot in the next round with a finish on the top spot. Mexico beat the Croatians 3-1 where all the four goals came in the final 30 minutes of the match.

The first half ended 0-0 with both teams adopting a safety-first policy. Still Mexico once hit the post when Hector Herrera drove past the defenders starting from the middle of the park and unleashed a scorcher from 30 yards out. That would have surely been one of the goals of the tournament had it found the back of the net.

As the second half began both teams began to show more urgency than in the first half. Mexico was looking more dangerous on their attacks and they were absolutely furious when they were denied of a clear penalty by the referee when Javier Hernandez’s shot hit the hands of one of the Croatian defenders inside the penalty box. Finally they scored. It was the captain, Rafael Marquez who put his team ahead with a crucial header in the 71^st minute from a corner. Mexico made it 2-0 minutes later when Guardado, who played excellent down the left on the night, gave Pletikosa no chance with a first time shot after the ball was sent on his path by Oribe Peralta. Javier Hernandez made the scoreline look more convincing when he made it 3-0 with less than 10 minutes plus stoppage time left on the clock. Croatia earned some sort of consolation when Perisic scored in the 88^th minute after a brilliant run down the left. It went even worse for the Croatians as they were down to 10 men as the referee gave marching order to Rebic for a lunging tackle on Moreno. That somewhat summed up Croatia’s night. They were down and out despite playing good football.

Mexico is now set to face the mighty Dutch in the next round. Surely the Dutch are the favourites to win that match but in football you never know, especially in this world cup, anything might happen. But an intriguing battle is on cards when the Mexicans will be up against the 3-time runners-up in the next match on June 29.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.