Mexico 2, New Zealand 2

Mexico gave a game effort to reach the quarterfinals, but in the end it came up just short with a 2-2 tie against New Zealand. As it turned out, it wouldn't have mattered anyway, as England was well in control of their match.

New Zealand, who had come all so close against both England and Japan, managed to get two very late goals to tie this match and earn their first World Cup point ever.

New Zealand coach John Herdman inserted veteran Hayley Moorwood and young Rosie White into the starting lineup for this match. Mexican coach Leonardo Cuellar made two changes in his lineup as well from the previous match against Japan. Kenti Robles started on the back line in place of Luz Saucedo. And Guadalupe Worbis started in the midfield in place of Dinora Garza.

Knowing that to have a chance, they needed to score several goals, Mexico went on the attack early. And just over a minute into the match, they went up 1-0. Veronica Perez gained possession and threaded a pass up the middle to Maribel Dominguez. Dominguez pushed the ball out the right side for Stephany Mayor. Mayor timed her run perfectly and having beaten the defender, walked in on goal and place her hard, low shot through the legs of Ferns goalkeeper Jenny Bindon. Mexico had taken the early 1-0 lead.

In the 20th minute, Mexico nearly doubled their lead. Mayor crossed the ball into the box, but Perez's diving effort at a header missed by mere inches. A few minutes later, Bindon made a nice save on Monica Ocampo and New Zealand's defense was able to block the ensuing rebound.

New Zealand nearly equalized in the 26th minute after a collision in the penalty area, but Cecilia Santiago came out to make the save as Betsy Hassett was able to get a shot off from 12 yards out.

Mexico's second goal came in the 29th minute. Santiago's goal kick came to center with Perez heading the ball forward past the defense. Dominguez had timed it perfectly and her great speed put her well behind the defender. She made no mistake finishing with well placed shot past Bindon and inside the right post. For Dominguez, it had been a long wait. She scored in the 1999 World Cup for Mexico, the last time they appeared in the tournament.

Mexico continued to press the attack, but with England leading the other match, things looked dim for the tricolor.

New Zealand tried to get one back at the start of the second half, as Ali Riley's cross found Anna Green, but her header went wide of the net.

At the other end, Ocampo put a shot from 10 yards well over the bar in the 58th minute. Dominguez attempted a shot from distance in the 60th minute, but it also went high. With England now leading 2-0 over Japan, the task had become impossible for Mexico as far as the quarterfinals go.

New Zealand began to knock on the door and came close in the 72nd minute as Mexico almost helped them out. A New Zealand corner kick found the head of Dinora Garza, who almost put it in her own net. Santiago made a reflex save to tip the ball just wide.

Charlyn Corral hit a free kick onto the top of the goal in the 88th minute, nearly putting Mexico up 3-0.

With time winding down, New Zealand was able to score two late goals. As had been giving them problems throughout the tournament, it was a set piece that led to the first goal against Mexico. Rebecca Smith rose easily above the defense and headed home a corner kick in the 90th minute.

Two minutes of time was added on and it was nearly that far into to stoppage when Hannah Wilkinson went down with an injury. The game continued on yet another minute as Wilkinson re-entered the game. She received a cross into the box, settled the ball and finished past Santiago to tie the match 2-2 on the last play of the match.

Mexico made a very good account of themselves, playing two strong matches against England and New Zealand. They earned two points and it could have easily been four. New Zealand was thrilled to have earned their first World Cup point.

Group B Preview: Mexico

Mexico (#22)
Region: Concacaf
Coach: Leonardo Cuellar
How They Qualified: Finished in 2nd Place in Concacaf Region Qualifying.
Prior Cups:
2007: DNQ
2003: DNQ
1999: Group Stage
1995: DNQ
1991: DNQ
.
Roster (Average Age: 23.50)

Name	Pos	Club	Age	Caps/Goals
Cecilia Santiago	GK	Laguna	16	11/0
Pamela Tajonar	GK	Atletico Malaga	26	36/0
Erika Vanegas	GK	None	22	13/0
Monica Alvarado	DF	Texas Christian Univ.	20	5/0
Natalie Garcia	DF	Univ of San Diego	21	3/0
Alina Garciamendez	DF	Stanford	20	17/1
Kenti Robles	DF	Espanyol	20	12/0
Rubi Sandoval	DF	None	27	70/5
Luz Saucedo	DF	None	27	91/2
Natalie Vinti	DF	Univ of San Diego	23	20/0
Dinora Garza	MF	Tigres	23	30/9
Juana Lopez	MF	None	32	102/14
Liliana Mercado	MF	UDLA Puebla	22	11/0
Teresa Noyola	MF	Stanford	21	7/0
Nayeli Rangel	MF	Tigres	19	27/3
Guadalupe Worbis	MF	ITESEM Puebla	27	95/22
Charlyn Corral	FW	ITESM Monterey	19	19/3
Maribel Dominguez	FW	L’Estartit	32	90/67
Stephany Mayor	FW	UDLA Puebla	19	16/5
Monica Ocampo	FW	None	24	36/12
Veronica Perez	FW	None	23	23/4

Recent Matches:

Date	Opponent	Competition	Result
6/20/11	Australia	Friendly	L 2-3
6/16/11	Sweden	Friendly	L 0-2
6/5/11	USA	Friendly	L 0-1
5/20/11	Costa Rica	Friendly	W 4-1
5/18/11	Costa Rica	Friendly	W 3-0
4/24/11	Colombia	Friendly	W 4-2
4/22/11	Colombia	Friendly	W 3-2
3/9/11	New Zealand	Cyprus	W 5-0
3/7/11	Northern Ireland	Cyprus	W 3-1
3/4/11	Korea Republic	Cyprus	T 1-1
3/2/11	Russia	Cyprus	T 0-0
12/19/10	Holland	Sao Paulo	L 1-2
12/15/10	Holland	Sao Paulo	L 1-3
12/12/10	Canada	Sao Paulo	L 0-1
12/9/10	Brazil	Sao Paulo	L 0-3
11/8/10	Canada	Concacaf	L 0-1
11/5/10	USA	Concacaf	W 2-1
11/2/10	Canada	Concacaf	L 0-3
10/31/10	Trinidad & Tobago	Concacaf	W 2-0
10/29/10	Guyana	Concacaf	W 7-2
10/21/10	Chinese Taipei	Peace Cup	W 1-0
10/17/10	Australia	Peace Cup	L 1-3

The last time that Mexico played in the Women’s World Cup was in 1999, when it was played in the United States. Maribel Dominguez was a member of that team that lost all three matches in the group stage. Dominguez scored the only goal that Mexico would get in the 1999 World Cup. Now 12 years later, she has seen a Mexican team evolve into one that can truly be competitive against the best in the world.

It’s not just the 2-1 upset that Mexico pulled over the United States in Concacaf Qualifying, although that’s certainly one that made people take notice. They have played very well against several top sides in 2010 and 2011. Most recently, in three friendlies, they lost by one goal the United States, two to Sweden and one to Australia, a match that they led 2-0 35 minutes into the match.

Before that, they swept a pair of matches against Colombia, another World Cup qualifier for 2011. They also performed very well at the Cyprus Cup, earning two wins and two draws, including a 5-0 victory over yet another qualifier New Zealand, a team they will meet again in Group B in Germany. They will not be taken lightly by their opponents anymore.

They’ve upset good teams and played competitive against nearly everyone. Can they take it one level higher? If the cards fall right, they might just make it to the quarterfinals.

While the team has some veterans like Dominguez, Evelyn Lopez, Luz Saucedo, Rubi Sandoval, and Guadalupe Worbis, this team is mostly made up of younger players. They have 14 players that are 23 years old and younger, many of them American college students. Alina Garciamendez, Teresa Noyola, Natalie Garcia, and Monica Alvarado all play college soccer in the US. Natalie Vinti and Veronica Perez recently finished up their college eligibility.

Dominguez is still their best offensive weapon. At age 32, she can still score goals in bunches. She plays very smart and seems to have a good sense of when and how to make her runs at the goal. But the younger generation has come on lately, especially Dinora Garza, Stephany Mayor, and Perez. Nayeli Rangel is another player to watch in the midfield.

Mexico has three solid goalkeeping options to choose from, including veteran Pam Tajonar and Erika Vanegas, who was in goal for the upset over the US. But 16-year old Cecilia Santiago may be the one to watch. She has been very sharp in several of the pre-Cup matches and is probably now considered Mexico’s number one keeper.

With such a young team, the future may be four years away for Mexico to really go deep into the tournament. Still, they have improved rapidly over the past year and they should be very competitive in Group B. They’ve already shown they can beat New Zealand. If they can perhaps get a win and a tie in the group stage, they might make it to the quarterfinals.

Note: Some information for this article was obtained on www.fifa.com and www.femexfut.org.mx.

MEXICO UPSETS US in World Cup Qualifying 2-1

A game Mexican squad, playing in front of a boisterous home crowd, upset the USWNT 2-1 tonight in Cancun, Mexico. For most of the evening, the underdog Mexicans outhustled and outplayed a US team that hadn't lost since a penalty kick decision at the 2009 Algarve Cup to Sweden.

Mexico had their foot on the gas peddle from the opening whistle, catching a sluggish looking US squad back on their heels. They struck first in the 3rd minute on a set piece. A long free kick was sent forward and Nayeli Rangel headed the ball toward the goal. Mexican star Maribel Dominguez slipped behind the defense and chipped the ball neatly over Nicole Barnhart's head for a 1-0 lead.

The US equalized in the 25th minute. A corner kick came loose in the box after Mexican goalkeeper Erika Vanegas was unable to handle it. Carli Lloyd slotted the loose ball into the net to knot the score at one.

It was only a minute later, however, that Mexico regained the lead. A high cross was sent into the box and former Saint Louis Athletica developmental player, Veronica Perez, headed it home past Barnhart.

The rest of the half saw the US often resorting to long passes and ill-advised shots, none of which came remotely close to scoring. Mexico headed into the intermission with a 2-1 lead. Little did anyone realize that there would be no more scoring.

The US would get very few good opportunities during the match. While they controlled the pace of the match much better in the 2nd half, the Mexican defense was more than up to the task, keeping most of the pressure away from their keeper. The Mexican team looked surprisingly poised compared to the far greater experienced USWNT. A frustrated US side was very ragged with their passing game and from a defensive standpoint, resorted to shirt-tugging all too often.

Perhaps the best chance for the US came well into the 2nd half as Alex Morgan corralled a loose ball off of a corner and turned with a hard shot that went right into the gut of Vanegas.

In stoppage time, Abby Wambach collided with Kenti Robles on a header that left both women bleeding, with blood gushing from Wambach's head. She got taped up, but the 4th official was unable to get the head referee's attention and Wambach was never able to rejoin the match.

A joyous Mexican crowd counted down the seconds to victory and the closing whistle set off quite the celebration. Mexico will now face Canada for the Concacaf championship, although both teams have already qualified for the World Cup. Canada broke open a close game late to win by a 4-0 margin over Costa Rica. Canadian goals were scored by Josee Belanger, Jonelle Foligno, Christine Sinclair, with a fourth coming on an own goal in stoppage time.

As for the US, the road just got a lot more difficult. They must now defeat Costa Rica once again in the 3rd place match. If they win that, they would face Italy in a home-and-home on November 20 and 27 for the final World Cup berth. Italy finished in 5th place in UEFA qualifying.