This was the second game of the World Cup and for
the second game all the talk after the final whistle
was about the referees. The main difference
between this game and the opener between Croatia
and Brazil less than 24 hours before, however, was
that the decisions, in the end, did not influence the
result.
The victory carried Mexico into second place in
Group A, level on points with Brazil, and also,
probably, spared Fifa’s blushes.
Oribe Peralta’s
goal came just after the hour mark, capping an
impressive performance from a Mexican side that
dominated from the start.
The decisive move started out wide before the ball
was moved inside. After a smart move, Giovani dos
Santos found himself inside the area and unleashed
a shot which the Cameroon goalkeeper, Charles
Itandje, could only parry. Peralta was lurking for
the rebound and a struggling Cameroon defence
could not recover in time to keep his shot out.
Peralta was not short of confidence and ambition
after scoring the winner. He said: “I want to score
as many goals as possible, to take advantage of
every opportunity that I get because I want to be a
world champion.”
It was no more than Mexico deserved as they had
controlled the game throughout.
And twice they
were denied by the Colombian officials, both times
for offside, both times erroneously. Dos Santos was
at the heart of both those “goals”, first slamming a
fine volley past Itandje after only 11 minutes, only
to see the assistant rule that he had been offside
when, in fact, he had been clearly onside.
Then the Villarreal striker had the ball in the net
again on the half-hour mark from Miguel Layún’s
corner only to collapse in frustration when the
assistant again waved his flag. The first decision
was poor, the second was dreadful – and it got
worse the more times you watched it. Replays
showed that not only had Dos Santos been onside,
but Cameroon’s Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting had
flicked the ball on to set up the chance.
The Mexico coach, Miguel Herrera, looked
incredulous on the touchline but he will have been
pleased by the energy, the organisation and the
quality that allowed El Tri to collect three critical
points and place the side in a good position before
a difficult second match, against Brazil in
Fortaleza on Tuesday.
Herrera said: “We could have scored more, but
unfortunately we’re not used to these [rainy]
conditions.
“Frankly, the refereeing took away two clear goals,
but at the end of the day you’ve got to work for it,
and we get to the next match with three points and
very high spirits.”
Cameroon, largely outplayed in the first half, did
spurn a gilt-edged chance of their own. Benoît
Assou-Ekotto raced round the Mexican backline in
the 22nd minute to deliver a superb ball into
Samuel Eto’o, only to see the striker volley his shot
agonisingly wide of Guillermo Ochoa’s near post.
Assou-Ekotto also saw a free-kick deflected
narrowly wide in the second half, but it was largely
a toothless performance from the African
side.Volker Finke’s team attempted to snatch a
point very late on when they threw Pierre Webó on
for Alex Song, and they did create some late
chances. Benjamin Moukandjo sent in a tasty cross
that forced Francisco Rodríguez to clear; then he
delivered a header in stoppage that Ochoa saved
well.
Cameroon had struggled to create chances
throughout in the pouring rain, Eto’o staying fairly
isolated up front while Finke surprisingly kept
Lorient’s in-form striker Vincent Aboubakar on the
substitutes’ bench.
Herrera, meanwhile, did make a substitution with
the Manchester United striker Javier Hernández
replacing the goalscorer Peralta with 16 minutes
remaining. Soon afterwards Mexico, who endured
a poor qualifying tournament and nearly missed
out on the tournament, nearly won a penalty but
the rash challenge of Dany Nounkeu on Marco
Fabián was just outside the area.
The resulting free-
kick, from Dos Santos, came to nothing.Mexico
displayed some nerves towards the end but the
three central defenders, Rafael Márquez, Héctor
Moreno and Layún, stood firm.
The loss also leaves Cameroon needing a victory
over Croatia before facing Brazil.
Finke, said: “We
have five days to recover. We will analyse this
together because the match against Croatia is very
important if we want to stay alive.”
On this evidence Cameroon will struggle to go
through while the final group game between Mexico
and Croatia on 23 June may well decide who
progresses with the favourites, Brazil.
the second game all the talk after the final whistle
was about the referees. The main difference
between this game and the opener between Croatia
and Brazil less than 24 hours before, however, was
that the decisions, in the end, did not influence the
result.
The victory carried Mexico into second place in
Group A, level on points with Brazil, and also,
probably, spared Fifa’s blushes.
Oribe Peralta’s
goal came just after the hour mark, capping an
impressive performance from a Mexican side that
dominated from the start.
The decisive move started out wide before the ball
was moved inside. After a smart move, Giovani dos
Santos found himself inside the area and unleashed
a shot which the Cameroon goalkeeper, Charles
Itandje, could only parry. Peralta was lurking for
the rebound and a struggling Cameroon defence
could not recover in time to keep his shot out.
Peralta was not short of confidence and ambition
after scoring the winner. He said: “I want to score
as many goals as possible, to take advantage of
every opportunity that I get because I want to be a
world champion.”
It was no more than Mexico deserved as they had
controlled the game throughout.
And twice they
were denied by the Colombian officials, both times
for offside, both times erroneously. Dos Santos was
at the heart of both those “goals”, first slamming a
fine volley past Itandje after only 11 minutes, only
to see the assistant rule that he had been offside
when, in fact, he had been clearly onside.
Then the Villarreal striker had the ball in the net
again on the half-hour mark from Miguel Layún’s
corner only to collapse in frustration when the
assistant again waved his flag. The first decision
was poor, the second was dreadful – and it got
worse the more times you watched it. Replays
showed that not only had Dos Santos been onside,
but Cameroon’s Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting had
flicked the ball on to set up the chance.
The Mexico coach, Miguel Herrera, looked
incredulous on the touchline but he will have been
pleased by the energy, the organisation and the
quality that allowed El Tri to collect three critical
points and place the side in a good position before
a difficult second match, against Brazil in
Fortaleza on Tuesday.
Herrera said: “We could have scored more, but
unfortunately we’re not used to these [rainy]
conditions.
“Frankly, the refereeing took away two clear goals,
but at the end of the day you’ve got to work for it,
and we get to the next match with three points and
very high spirits.”
Cameroon, largely outplayed in the first half, did
spurn a gilt-edged chance of their own. Benoît
Assou-Ekotto raced round the Mexican backline in
the 22nd minute to deliver a superb ball into
Samuel Eto’o, only to see the striker volley his shot
agonisingly wide of Guillermo Ochoa’s near post.
Assou-Ekotto also saw a free-kick deflected
narrowly wide in the second half, but it was largely
a toothless performance from the African
side.Volker Finke’s team attempted to snatch a
point very late on when they threw Pierre Webó on
for Alex Song, and they did create some late
chances. Benjamin Moukandjo sent in a tasty cross
that forced Francisco Rodríguez to clear; then he
delivered a header in stoppage that Ochoa saved
well.
Cameroon had struggled to create chances
throughout in the pouring rain, Eto’o staying fairly
isolated up front while Finke surprisingly kept
Lorient’s in-form striker Vincent Aboubakar on the
substitutes’ bench.
Herrera, meanwhile, did make a substitution with
the Manchester United striker Javier Hernández
replacing the goalscorer Peralta with 16 minutes
remaining. Soon afterwards Mexico, who endured
a poor qualifying tournament and nearly missed
out on the tournament, nearly won a penalty but
the rash challenge of Dany Nounkeu on Marco
Fabián was just outside the area.
The resulting free-
kick, from Dos Santos, came to nothing.Mexico
displayed some nerves towards the end but the
three central defenders, Rafael Márquez, Héctor
Moreno and Layún, stood firm.
The loss also leaves Cameroon needing a victory
over Croatia before facing Brazil.
Finke, said: “We
have five days to recover. We will analyse this
together because the match against Croatia is very
important if we want to stay alive.”
On this evidence Cameroon will struggle to go
through while the final group game between Mexico
and Croatia on 23 June may well decide who
progresses with the favourites, Brazil.
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