Uruguay 4-Mexico 1

Houston, TX-In a friendly match played at NRG Stadium, Uruguay beat a young Mexican side 4-1. While Mexico might have brought a younger side, Uruguay’s roster was filled with experienced players with Luis Suarez being the most notorious. Suarez scored two goals and had one assist  showing why The Charruas are ranked fifth in the World. On the other side, Mexico who came in to this match with an interim coach in Ricardo ‘Tuca’ Ferreti, is in transition mode after coach Juan Carlos Osorio and many players such as Rafael Marquez left the team after the World Cup last summer.

The match was very intense and very well fought. Uruguay, which has a fixed playing style, was solid in defense and used set pieces and their talent on offense to score four goals and get the win in Houston in front of over 60,000 fans. La Celeste came in to this match with an interim coach as well. However, its coach is their youth system manager. He knows the players and keeps the same game style the team has have the last twelve years under coach Oscar Tabarez.

The effectiveness was the difference in this match. In Mexico, Hirving ‘El Chucky’ Lozano, who plays in the Dutch league in PSV, was the best player for ‘El Tri’, but his lack of experience and the pressure of being  the go-to guy in Mexico was too much for him. On the other hand Suarez, who plays for FC Barcelona, is a player that La Celeste relies in offense. His experience and talent were shown in the match. In addition, other players such as Diego Godin, gave Uruguay the strength in defense.   

The match:

In the first half, Mexico was the one dominating the control of the ball. They created some chances to score, but again, they were not effective in their finishing. Uruguay let Mexico to be the one dominating the match, but the pressure they applied to the young Mexicans created many problems for the Ferreti’s team.

Uruguay scored the first one after a corner kick when Jose Maria Gimenez beat goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa in the top corner. Mexico, tied the scored after a penalty kick that was converted into the 1-1 via Raul Jimenez. Uruguay regained the lead when Luis Suarez scored via a free kick. Also, Suarez scored the 3-1 when he changed a penalty kick for his second of the night and the partial scored at the half.

The second half was similar to the first one, however, in this half Uruguay had more chances than Mexico to increase their lead. The 4-1 came in for Uruguay when Gaston Pereiro took advantage of a great play by Suarez to score his first one of the night. After that goal, Mexico tried to get on the scoreboard again, but goalkeeper Fernando Muslera blocked a penalty kick that was taken by Jimenez.  

Now Mexico will have a big test when they face United States in Nashville on Tuesday. Both teams in this CONCACAF derby will be sporting younger sides  and interim coaches, so Sunday’s test will be a good indicator as to what fans can expect during the next World Cup qualification cycle.