Mexico defeats Colombia 2-0 to clinch third place finish in 2022 Maurice Revello Tournament in Toulon, France.

Mexico finished the 2022 Maurice Revello tournament in Toulon, France with a 2-0 win over Colombia in the third place match. Mexico bounced back from a tough semifinal defeat against France by a 4-1 score. France later on defeated Venezuela 2-1 to become the champions of the 2022 Tournament. Mexico meanwhile repeated their performance of the last Maurice Revello Tournament (previously called Toulon Tournament) in 2019, where they also finished in thirrd place after defeating Ireland in a penalty kick shootout.

The first half started with the return of goalkeeper Eduardo Garcia as the goalkeeper. Mexico had a great chance when off of a corner kick, Santiago Naveda got a header that was cleared off the line by a Colombian defender. Colombia missed a great chance off a corner kick when Tomas Angel was left alone, but his header went well wide. Mexico had a great chance of their own when Efrain Alvarez lobbed the ball from outside the area and it went just wide. Then off a corner kick, Mexico took it short and then sent a cross that Colombian goalkeeper Luis Manriquez misjudged after going out with the ball, allowing Santiago Muñoz to rise and get a header past him for the 1-0 lead. Mexico took an early lead after a couple of well played minutes. Mexico then took advantage of Colombian players protesting a foul to surprise and find Jose Castillo in the area, but his shot was saved with a slide from Colombian defender Daniel Pedrozo. Jonathan Herrera then got off a shot that was also saved by Manriquez. Colombia had a good chance when Gustavo Puerta got a header that went just wide. Mexico got away with a controversial play when Garcia arrived late and looked to have brought down Jorge Cabezas, but no foul was given. The game started to turn chippy with Muñoz especially getting lots of fouls. Mexico did however hold on to take the lead until halftime.

The second half started with Colombia subbing out Cristian Valencia and Daniel Pedrozo for Jose Garcia and Luis Angulo. Mexico had a good chance when a free kick was once again misjudged by Manriquez, but he was able to get a hand up and deflect it over Muñoz, who would have had an empty net header if he had gotten to it. A longball into the area turned to a good chance when a terrible mistake from Garcia allowed a cross into the area, but Mexico’s defense was able to clear it before any Colombian player could take advantage of the empty net. Colombia then subbed out Tomas Angel and Alexis Castillo for Gian Cabezas and Daniel Luna. Colombia came close with a shot from long range from Ober Almanza, but it went over the goal. Mexico subbed out Angel Zapata for Eugenio Pizzuto. Then after Colombia lost the ball, Mexico started a counter in which Muñoz got into the area and passed it to Efrain Alvarez, who got off a very strong left footed shot that went past Manriquez and into the net for the 2-0 lead, It was a great counter, where Mexico took advantage of another defensive mistake by Colombia and got a deserved lead. Mexico later subbed out both goal scorers Santiago Muñoz and Efrain Alvarez for Teun Wilke and Diego Medina. Mexico continued to have more possession and were clearly be the better team on the pitch. Colombia subbed out Ober Almanza for Isaac Zuleta. Then after a terrible two footed tackle from Gian Cabezas on Santiago Naveda, the Colombian player got a straight red card and left the team with ten players. Mexico now had the advantage and in a key play that looked to help them keep the possession. A cross into the area could have been a good chance, but Wilke misjudged it and failed to get to the ball. A mistake from Colombia ended with Wilke getting the ball in the area and getting off a left footed shot that hit the post, going straight to Manriquez’ hands in a bad miss. Then off a counter, Wilke got past Gustavo Puerta in a one-on-one that then led to Puerta pulling Wilke down. As Wilke was the last player in on goal, Puerta was red carded. Colombia was down to nine players and then in a another play, there was a big scuffle after a Colombian defender slapped a Mexican player. The ref ended giving two yellow cards to Colombian players and one to a Mexican player. The Mexican player who got yellow carded, Jonathan Herrera was subbed out immediately for Andres Montaño. The game continued to be very physical. Even then the referee gave five minutes of injury time. Medina had a good chance when he got the ball into the area, but Jose Garcia dived to take the ball off his feet. Mexico was able to hold on and clinch the third place finish.

Overall it was a positive experience for a Mexican side that finished in third place. With only two losses against both finalists, Mexico also got three wins and showed some good things with the side that was coached by Raul Chabrand. Among the players that stood out were Santiago Muñoz and Efrain Alvarez on the offensive side, and Ramon Juarez and Victor Guzman on defense. Mexico had their best match of the tournament on Sunday where they were clearly the better team against a good Colombian side that normally has good performances in youth tournaments. Mexico will probably return next year to the tournament to try to at least defend the third place finish, with the strong probability that it will be the U20 team if Mexico qualifies to the 2023 U20 World Cup.