Brazil held by determined Mexico

The hosts were restricted to a stalemate by a spirited Mexico at Fortaleza. Brazil failed to score in either of the two halves and Mexico was quite happy to earn a point from their toughest opponent in the group.

Brazil put up disappointing display in front of their home crowd as they lacked perfection and precision in the attacking third. Also the Mexican defense played beautifully to keep the Brazilian talismans at bay. Even when they were able to breach the defense it was the Mexican keeper Ochoa who turned out to be the saviour on each occasion. Ochoa made an absolutely breath-taking save midway through the first half when he pushed aside Neymar’s well-placed header which was inches away from getting over the line. It may well turn out to be one the greatest saves of all time. This kind of saves always does a whole lot of good to the defenders and it just the same for the Mexicans. They defended brilliantly for the rest of the match and denied Brazil any clear sight of the goal. Still Brazil managed to break through and find opportunities but Ochoa turned out to be the party spoiler for the hosts. He made two more such saves, first from Neymar just after the restart and then late in the match when he pushed the ball to safety after Thiago Silva tried to score from the corner with a strong header.

However the match was never of a type where only Brazil surged ahead and Mexico was shelled inside their own half. Mexico had their opportunities as well. They opted for the strategy of shooting from distance as Julio Cesar is not comfortable at the balls coming from distance. They had 11 shots but unfortunately only 3 of them were on target. The rest were mostly inches above the crossbar or marginally outside the posts. Otherwise it would have been the case of the worst nightmare coming true for the Brazilians.

It has been a long time since Brazil had failed to score in a group stage. Yesterday was one such instance. Hope that such nights don’t come too often, otherwise the world cup will turn out to be a cake without a cherry.

• About the Author

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.