With their victory over South Africa, Mexico advanced to the Olympic quarterfinals.
With a 3-0 victory over South Africa, Mexico showed they were back to their old form and punched their way to the Olympic quarterfinals in Tokyo in 2020.
D Lainez Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Mexico prevailed in a close game, but they were the superior team and advanced to the next round despite Japan’s resounding triumph. Mexico will now have a very tough matchup against South Korea, which progressed to the quarterfinals after smashing Honduras by a 6-0 score. Still for now, it’s a celebration for the team after returning to the knockout stages for the first time after winning the Gold Medal in 2012.
Uriel Antuna started the Game in place of Diego Lainez,
Which caught everyone off guard. Jesus Alberto Angulo replaced Johan Vasquez, who was suspended, and Vladimir Loroa continued to start in place of Erick Aguirre, who was injured.
Henry Martin took a hard foul early on from Mexico, but he stayed in the game. In the early going, both teams played evenly, and Mexico showed signs of nervousness by giving the ball away and allowing counterattacks. After a fantastic run, Mexico got the ball in the area and Martin had a good chance but his shot was blocked by a defender.
Martin then sent a wonderful pass to Uriel Antuna, who played a cross into the box for an open Alexis Vega, who shot past South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams to put his team up by one. Another heavy foul from South Africa look to have wounded Carlos Rodriguez but he remained in the match.
South Africa Demonstrated they were going to be a Physical Side.
Later after Martin acquired the ball in the area, he left a pass that Antuna transformed into a shot, but Williams was able to easily make the save. Later, Mexico countered but two of their players went down due to fouls, so play was halted. After Luis Romo’s header was saved by Williams, the ball went straight to Alexis Vega, who had a wonderful volley saved by Williams.
Mexico had a golden opportunity to score again. In the wake of yet another collision, Loroa was taken out of the game for evaluation of a probable head injury.
Then, Mexico got a chance to score after a corner kick after Williams punched the ball and failed to properly clear it. Because of a defensive miscue, Luis Romo was able to get a shot off, and Williams deflected it to put South Africa up 2-0. At halftime, Mexico maintained their lead and went into the locker room with a deserved 2-0 advantage.
As the second half began, Mexico saw Japan’s 2-0 advantage and knew they had more breathing room. Amazing play by Mexico on a three-on-two breakaway that nearly resulted in an own goal after Antuna’s cross was diverted by a South African defender.
Henry Martin went down hard from a foul once more and appeared hurt. After consulting VAR, the ref opted to send off South Africa’s Tercious Malepe for a serious infraction, reducing the team to 10 men.
Quickly after, Mexico went up 3-0 on a wonderful combination play between Henry Martin and Carlos Rodriguez, in which Rodriguez played a one-time pass into the area for Martin to take a shot that Williams couldn’t stop.
Things were going great for Mexico, but then suddenly they changed. The spectacular performance by Carlos Rodriguez resulted in a red card for him and suspension for Mexico’s potential quarterfinal encounter after they lost the ball and he tripped the South African striker.
Romo’s Attempt from outside the box Nearly gave Mexico Another Goal.
The Mexicans took the initiative by making the first substitutions, sending in Joaquin Esquivel and Adrian Mora for Sebastian Cordova and Jorge Sanchez.
The Mexicans later replaced Henry Martin with Eduardo Aguirre. Jesus then was replaced by Alexis Vega and Uriel Antuna in Mexico’s final movements. And for some reason, Diego Lainez as well as Ricardo Angulo.
The Lainez incident was unbelievable, what with the obvious outcome and the rough play by South African players. Angulo delivered a pass and Lainez was all set to finish off the play from his teammate’s cross if but for a last-ditch clearance by a South African defender.
Luther Singh’s free kick attempt for South Africa was near but missed the target. A South African attacker forced Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa to make his first save of the match in stoppage time.
After making a nice run, Mexico’s Angulo passed to Aguirre instead of Lainez, wasting a promising counterattack. The attempt at goal by Aguirre was stopped. After another impressive showing, Mexico would advance to the quarterfinals with a victory.
Mexico advanced to the quarterfinals with a convincing win against South Africa after failing to go past the group stage in the 2016 Olympics. Mexico finished second in a challenging group after taking down France and a feisty South Africa team.
Even yet, Mexico’s meeting with South Korea will be difficult, given the Koreans already annihilated Honduras and, as previously mentioned, Mexico has difficulties adapting to South Korea’s style.
Mexico tied South Korea 0-0 in their Olympic opener game despite winning the gold medal. In 2016, South Korea eliminated Mexico from the tournament with a 1-0 victory.
Both teams entered the match with four points apiece. Although South Korea has won two games by large margins, its opponents have been reduced to 10 men in each contest.
Conclusion
Coach Jaime Lozano has his hands full, but so far he has done a fantastic job, as Mexico was the better team against South Africa but will need to reflect on their loss against Japan.
Although Johan Vasquez returns from suspension, they will be missing Carlos Rodriguez. Mexico will require as much support as possible to advance in the tournament. Thanks for read our Article D Lainez Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
