Martino keeps El Tri flying high as Mexico thumps Paraguay 4-2!

Gerardo “Tata” Martino and the Mexican National Team looked to continue the skipper’s hot start on a gloomy Tuesday evening in Santa Clara, California and the men wearing black today, did not disappoint as Mexico scored four goals in a game for the first time since July 2015.

It’s evident that Tata has injected life into his new team as it didn’t take long for El Tri to strike. The Mexicans came out firing on all cylinders, and during the sixth minute, Jonathan dos Santos scored his first ever goal with Mexico on a defensive collapse from Paraguayan side as Club America’s Bruno Valdez headed the ball towards his goalkeeper only to find Jonathan wide open in front of the goal and the Galaxy player would score to give hi a 1-0 lead.

Only three minutes had gone by, and Mexico struck once again. As Tata’s men pushed forward, Chicharito found Erick Gutierrez on the left side, and crossed a dangerous ball into the small box which Paraguay defender Gustavo Gómez pushed into the back of the net after sliding into the ball while attempting to clear it. The second goal of the game sent the nearly 50,317 fans in attendance into a frenzy as their team held a comfortable lead against the very tough South American squad.

Just when everyone thought that Martino’s team was going to relax and slow down the pace, the Mexicans put the pedal to the metal. In the 24th minute, El Tri continued their aggressive pressure and forced Paraguay to lose the ball in the midfield. Erick Gutierrez passed the recovered ball to Jona Dos Santos, and he was able to set up Chicharito who was making a run inside the box, and the West Ham striker was able to beat goalkeeper Antony Silva.

An unusual incident took place towards the end of the first half as a ball hit Tata Martino on the face which left the Mexican manager bleeding. The skipper showed up to the press conference with a band-aid on the left side of his nose, when asked about the incident he said he was fine.

With his team down three goals and the clock running against him, Paraguay manager Eduardo Berizzo made three substitutions in the 56th minute. The modifications paid fruition for the CONMEBOL side as three minutes later, Óscar Romero was able to set up Hernán Pérez inside the 18-yard box to give the Paraguayans their first goal on the game.

As the skies began to clear and the rain stopped falling, the teams found themselves playing a hotly contested game during the last 15 minutes. Martino made additional substitutions including one for Nestor Araujo who left the game following an unknown injury. Last year Araujo suffered a horrendous knee injury against Croatia in Dallas. It will be interesting to see how the Celta de Vigo man is evaluated following this injury. However, Tata said after the game that it was just a psychological scare and that Araujo would be fine. With Nestor out of the game, Paraguay was able to get another goal back in the 84th minute when Jorge Sánchez loses the ball close to the 18-yard box, and that paves the way for Derlis González to beat Raúl Gudiño with a razor shot from inside the box.

As the skies began to clear and the rain stopped falling the teams found themselves playing a hotly contested game during the last 15 minutes. Martino made additional substitutions including one for Nestor Araujo who left the game following an unknown injury. Last year Araujo suffered a horrendous knee injury against Croatia. It will be interesting to see how the Celta de Vigo man is evaluated following this injury. With Nestor out of the game, Paraguay was able to get another goal back in the 84th minute when Jorge Sánchez loses the ball close to the 18-yard box, and that paves the way for Derlis González to beat Raúl Gudiño with a razor shot from inside the box.

The game got extremely intense during the last five minutes as Paraguay was looking for the draw, but Mexico also wanted to hold on to the win. Finally, in the 90th minute, El Tri was able to strike the final blow when Luis Montes scored the fourth goal for Mexico on a play that some would argue was offside; nonetheless, the linesman did not raise the flag, and Montes would tally with the Mexican team for the first time in five years.

The first two games under Tata Martino have shown promise for El Tri, but the fans must be mindful that these two victories, despite being against two tough South American opponents are friendlies nonetheless. Martino said afterward, “We played two friendlies, but it’s only that. We have to be well balanced and not fall into a trap in believing that we don’t need to work anymore.

We played well, but we allowed them [Chile & Paraguay] to get back into the game, so we need to continue to work.” It’s a good start for Tata, and with the results, the press will be off his back. Regardless, expect for all eyes to be on Martino when he makes his return to Atlanta when Mexico takes on Venezuela on June 5th and Ecuador in Dallas on June 9th which is less than a week before the start of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.