U-22 Mexican side beats Ecuador and moves on to the Pan America Games semi-finals
Going into the game, Mexico knew that Argentina had already won their game, so at least a draw against Ecuador would take them to the semifinals.
The Ecuadorians, who recently finished in third place at the U-20 World Cup tournament in Poland, needed a victory to keep their Pan American Games dream alive.
Ecuador started the game looking for the goal. For the first 15 minutes, the South Americas were in total control of the field.
The Mexican team appeared to be lost until Jaime Lozano made a couple of field adjustments. Those adjustments would eventually pay dividends for El Tri in the 26th minute. Pablo Lopez’ cross inside the small box found Johan Vasquez whose header got deflected off an Ecuadorian defender into the goal.
The rest of the first half was limited in action, and the teams went to the locker rooms with Mexico leading by the minimal margin.
Ecuador came out to the field, firing on all cylinders at the start of the second half. The Ecuadorians nearly got the equalizer after a shot inside the box was tipped by one of their players forcing the Mexican goalkeeper to make an excellent save.
Later, things improved significantly for El Tri. They regained control of the midfield and dominated the rest of the game.
In the 72nd minute, Marcel Ruiz could’ve put the game away for Mexico, but missed a clear opportunity inside the 18-yard box. Ruiz’ shot attempt went wide, and Ecuador remained alive in the contest.
The men led by Jaime Lozano kept pressing and created several more opportunities. But despite their offensive aggression, Lozano must not be pleased with his team’s inability to finish the plays.
In stoppage time, on the final breakaway of the game, Jose de Jesus Godinez nearly scored an incredible goal after juking an Ecuadorian defender. Godinez, however, was unable to score on the goalkeeper who made a brave save. The bonehead move of the tournament occurred immediately after. The same Ecuadorian defender who had fallen apart while guarding Godinez ran after the ball and use his hand for some unknown reason while the sphere was still inside the box.
The play forced the referee to signal a penalty and Diego Lainez’ older brother, Mauro, executed the shot beautifully to give Mexico the 2-1 victory.
The Pan American games have forced the U-22 Mexican National team to dig deep following their lackluster debut against Panama. The team showed resilience and character following their last two games and will now have to wait for their opponent in the semifinal on Wednesday. Uruguay, Honduras or the hosts Peru, are all potential opponents for the match. Regardless of who they end up playing, the young El Tri needs to be prepared to play toe-to-toe against them.
