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Referee Juan Calderón looked at his watch, pointed to the center circle and blew his whistle, putting an end to the Mexican National Team’s most recent frustrating performance.
With that, 57,735 inside State Farm Stadium erupted into boos. Beers, full and empty, rained down from the upper deck. Below, fans shielded themselves with flags and banners that they had brought to Glendale on Thursday night, hoping to see Mexico beat Uruguay in the first of four matches this month as it continues its preparations for the World Cup in November.
What they got instead was a 3-0 loss in which the scoreline reflected another uninspired Mexican outing. In the past calendar year, Mexico has played nine games against countries that have qualified for the World Cup. In those games, it has won just once, drawn twice and lost six times — thrice to the U.S., once to Canada, once to Ecuador and now once to Uruguay.
“Against the big rivals, we have not competed badly,” manager Tata Martino said through a translator. “We have done well until we commit the errors that those top teams don’t commit, or they achieve things that we cannot achieve. That’s when the score gets to one side. We don’t respond to that.”
On Thursday, that story played out once again.
After beating Nigeria, 2-1, on Saturday with what was mostly a ‘B’ team, many of Mexico’s biggest stars returned to the lineup against Uruguay. That group includes Europe-based national team stalwarts such as Ajax’s Edson Alvarez, Sevilla’s Jesus ‘Tecatito’ Corona and Wolverhampton’s Raul Jimenez.
But after a stale first half hour, it was Uruguay who got the game’s first goal in the 35th minute. Mexico left striker Edinson Cavani unmarked in the box on a corner kick and Cavani made them pay, producing a reaction save out of Mexico goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera. Talavera, who will likely back up longtime starter Guillermo Ochoa in Qatar, couldn’t prevent the ball from falling to Matias Vecino for an easy opener.
“The way that goal came in was on an error,” Martino said. “It was an important initial error. With the header, we didn’t jump. We can’t give them those opportunities.”
Read more: Why Mexican men’s national soccer team keeps coming back to Phoenix area for matches
Mexico had a pair of golden chances to tie the game in the half’s closing minutes. First, Jimenez found himself through on goal before scuffing his left-footed shot harmlessly wide. Three minutes later, Corona controlled a cross from Alvarez at the back post but instead of taking an open shot with his left foot, he cut the ball back into traffic, ultimately producing a weak hit right at goalkeeper Sergio Rochet.
Those chances led Martino to describe the first half as “even” in his post-game press conference. The fans in Glendale, though, weren’t satisfied. After Corona’s miss, they broke out in a chant of “Chicha, Chicha,” showing support for all-time leading scorer Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, who has been exiled from the national team since 2019 due to off-the-field issues between him and Martino.
Calls for Hernandez’s return have grown stronger over the past year as Mexico struggled to score goals in World Cup Qualifying. Jimenez — once a standout goalscorer in the English Premier League — hasn’t been the same since suffering a career-threatening head injury in November 2020.
On Thursday, Mexico’s ineffectiveness in front of goal was punished just 14 seconds into the second half. Uruguay winger Facundo Pellistri blew past left-back Jesus Angulo, who struggled all night, and hit a cutback cross into the path of Cavani, who made it 2-0.
From there, the rout was on. Cavani got his second goal eight minutes later, hitting a low shot from distance inside the far post.
“The difference was made and showed in the second half, after the second goal, not in the first half,” Martino said. “We went into the second half hoping to get a goal to even the game but they countered.”
Uruguay manager Diego Alonso echoed Martino’s sentiment, saying, “they played better than us in a few instances.”
“I think what we did today was that we played great,” Alonso added through a translator. “It’s not that Mexico didn’t play well.”
That assessment will be of little solace to the fans who traveled out to Glendale for Mexico’s 12th match in the Valley since 2002. “Playing in the United States — in Phoenix, in Dallas, it’s always playing as locals,” Martino said.
In eight of the first 11 trips, Mexico rewarded those fans with a win. On Thursday, they failed to repeat that feat, producing another unsatisfying result under Martino, who faces a growing list of questions with dwindling time to answer them.
Theo Mackie covers Arizona high school sports and Phoenix Rising FC. He can be reached by email at theo.mackie@gannett.com and on Twitter @theo_mackie.
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