Mexico 5, Bolivia 1: Mexico Player Ratings

Everything went right on Wednesday for Mexico. They got their first win of 2009 and completely dismantled Bolivia. El Tri won by a comfortable margin of 5-1. It could have been more but like in every game there are missed opportunities.

Mexico in general looked very organized. They dominated throughout the game and played on Bolivia’s side of the pitch.

All the players looked very much in sync with each other. The passing was good and the runs were great. There was just that one goal that Mexico conceded but other than that the whole squad looked very organized.

Some players played better than others but everyone played well. Here's how the Mexican players fared with their performances.

Guillermo Ochoa 5 - Ochoa had very little to do throughout the game and was rarely tested. He allowed one goal by Didi Torrico after a magnificent individual play, but there was little to do since it was a very well placed shot.

Oscar Rojas 6.5 - Rojas was all over the field. He did a pretty solid job defending, but the highlight of his night was when he took on and beat a Bolivian defender and assisted in el “Chema” Cardenas goal. But he was also beat in the Bolivian goal which didn’t really matter at the end.

Leobardo Lopez 6 - The Pachuca man did a solid job in the back and went the distance for the Mexican team. The defense was barely tested thanks in part to an excellent job in the midfield line.

Julio Cesar Dominguez 5.5 - Dominguez played an important part in not conceding goals. He was barely tested as he only played the first half of the game but Mexico did not concede a goal while he was on the field

Fausto Pinto 6 - Pinto did a good job of getting up and down the left flank. He linked up with Israel Martinez real well. He only played until the 75th minute but was very effective throughout.

Leandro Augusto 6.5 - Augusto played a pretty quiet first half he played a vital part in not letting the Bolivians past midfield. The most important part though, was his goal in the 36th minute off a set piece. He only played the first half.

Gerardo Torrado 6 - The Mexican captain kept the midfield line pretty solid by pining Bolivia on their own side of the field. He showed good passing and controlled the tempo of the game well.

Fernando Arce 5 - Arce played only the first half of the game and had very little to show for it. He did a good job by stopping Bolivian players but did not do much on the attacking end.

Israel “Jagger” Martinez 8.5 - Clearly man of the match. He dominated the left flank. Bolivia had no answer for him. He assisted Vuoso with his two goals, once from a cross from the left and the other a cross from the right. He was all over the field and displayed strong physical presence as he played all 90 minutes. With the return of Andres Guardado to the national team around the corner Eriksson will have tough time deciding who will be the winger.

Omar Bravo 6 - Bravo showed that he is in top condition. He was very active up front exploiting the right side of Bolivia’s defense. He had some chances to score but failed to convert. He will need a little more time to work with Tigres before he can be that top notch striker that we all know and love. He was replaced with an ovation by the crowed in he 61st minute.

Vicente Matias Vuoso 7.5 - Vuoso had a great night he scored twice for Mexico and was making great runs into the heart of the Bolivian defense. The only (hiccup) he had was when he was one on one with the Bolivian goalkeeper and failed to convert as the goalkeeper sent the shot to the side of the goal. He was subbed out of the game in the 61st minute.

Subs:

Cesar Villaluz 6.5 - Villaluz came into the game at the beginning of the second half. He showed great passing and fit in well with the team. Villaluz was a key part in creating the play for the third goal of the night. He had a possible goal scoring play inside the box but was stopped by the Bolivian keeper.

Hugo Ayala 4.5 - Ayala came in the second half as a replacement for Julio Cesar Dominguez. He was pretty dormant through out the second half but he was also one of the players beat by Torrico that consequently ended up in a goal.

Luis Ernesto Perez 5 - Perez came in the start of he second half of the game for Augusto. He had a couple of good touches one of them was a through ball to Sergio Santana which was saved. Other than that he was pretty much dormant.

Sergio Santana 6 - Santana came into the game in the 61st minute replacing Omar Bravo. He had a golden opportunity after he receive a pass from “Lucho” Perez but failed to convert. Santana caused a penalty inside the box, took it, and made it to give Mexico their fourth goal of the night.

Antonio Naelson 4 - Naelson came in for Vuoso in the 61st minute. He had very little to show he was not very fluent with the team and seemed out of place.

Jose Maria Cardenas 7.5 - El “Chema” made his debut with El Tri in style. He stated the game looking very well in the left flank. He connected with all his passes and did not seem at all nervous. He scored the fifth and final goal for Mexico completing the dismantling of the Bolivian squad.

Mexico will hope to carry on this positive result against Costa Rica.

Sylvestre Adame, Goal.com