Things went from a frustrating friendly for El Tri to a total goal-fest at Stadion Wiener Neustadt Austria. Mexico managed to beat South Korea in a 3-2 victory and really gave a show in the second half of the match. Tonight’s win makes it three victories out of four international friendlies this year, and they are aiming to keep this run going. Let’s break down tonight’s matchup.

South Korea stuns Mexico early

It appeared that in the first half, the opportunities would not stop showing up for El Tri. With chances for Tecatito Corona, Chucky Lozano, and Raul Jimenez in the attack, the scoreboard should have been opened up for the Mexican side early in the game. Their attack was in full effect, but the defense fell short as the South Koreans capitalized on their first opportunity and opened up the score at the 20th minute of the match with Hwang Ui-jo scoring on a beautiful assist by Son Heung-Min. No other goals were scored in the first half, and the teams went to lockers with the South Koreans up by a goal.

Second Half Goal Fest

The second half started with Mexico down a goal, and the morale seemed to take a toll at the beginning. Soon things changed up when Tata Martino decided to make some substitutions on the pitch. He took out Jesus Corona and Francisco Córdova and subbed-in Uriel Antuna and Orbelin Pineda at the 54th minute. After a few minutes of getting adjusted, the modifications worked like a charm. In the 67th minute, with Pineda’s assist, Raul Jimenez right-footed the ball into the bottom right corner of the box to level the score.

Two minutes later, Uriel Antuna got inside the box and took a right-footed shot to the bottom right corner of the box to place El Tri in the lead with thanks to another assist from Orbelin Pineda. Just when we thought that was the end of that scoring barrage, Carlos Salcedo scored with a right-foot shot in the center of the box to the top right corner. The goal was following a set-piece and the assist was by Hector Moreno at the 70th minute. South Korea was also not done and they went on to score once more in the 87th minute with a goal from Kwon Kyung-Won that made things 3-2, and the final score.

The Mexican National team has one more international friendly before the year ends against Japan this upcoming Tuesday in the UPC-Arena in  Graz, Austria. That match will conclude their friendlies before the important World Cup qualifying process begins.