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Mexico Drop Four On Venezuela In Friendly Rout
Mexico kicked off preparation for the 2009 Gold Cup with a convincing 4-0 win over Venezuela in Atlanta.
Jun 25, 2009 1:05:50 AM
The Tricolor, propelled by an on-fire Giovani dos Santos, showed glimpses of their old form which seemed to have been lost in the constant shuffle of managers.
Venezuela, which also fielded an alternate squad, managed to hold down Mexico for much of the first-half and even came close to taking the lead, in the 24th minute, with Giancarlo Maldonado being denied by a last ditch save from Guillermo Ochoa. Mexico did not seem to be able to shake off their long streak of poor performances until an inspired Giovani sparked the Tricolor’s attack.
The Ipswich Town striker latched on to a Guillermo Ochoa pass, that was headed to him by Luis Noriega, and with a perfect cross set up Carlos Vela in a play that brought back memories of the Peru 2005 U-17 World Championship. Vela made no mistake and opened the scoring just one minute before the first-half came to an end.
Giovani, however, was not done yet and at the start of the second-half completely turned the match into Mexico’s favor by scoring a brace in the span of two minutes. Giovani’s first strike came in the 47th minute after receiving a pass from team captain Gerardo Torrado. With the ball at the edge of the box Giovani placed a shot to the left post far from Venezuelan keeper Rafael Romo’s reach. Two minutes later Giovani waltzed through the Venezuelan defense and fired a shot straight at Romo that ricocheted from the keeper’s knee to Giovani’s chest and into the back of the net.
Mexico’s comfortable lead allowed head coach Javier Aguirre to begin tinkering with the lineup. The lackluster Miguel Sabah was then subbed for another striker down on his luck; Omar Bravo. A few minutes later Vela left his spot for upstart Omar Arellano in what appeared to be a Chivas reunion special. In the 72nd minute Aguirre’s adjustments paid off and Arellano notched his first international goal with the Tricolor after slotting in a through pass from Bravo to seal Mexico’s victory.
Joel Aceves, Goal.com
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