Photo from Mexsport
Mexico put five goals past El Salvador in the second half to win their opening game of the Gold Cup 2011.
A hat-trick by Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez and goals by Efrain Juarez and Aldo de Nigris gave Mexico the win in Arlington, Texas.
Line ups:
Mexico:Guillermo Ochoa, Francisco Javier ‘Maza’ Rodriguez, Carlos Salcido, Hector Moreno, Andres Guardado, Gerardo Torrado, Israel Castro, Pablo Barrera, Efrain Juarez, Giovani dos Santos, Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez
El Salvador: Miguel Angel Montes, Luis Alonso Anaya, Marvin González, Victor Turcios, Moises Garcia, Reynaldo Hernandez, Dennis Alas, Andres Flores, Jaime Alas, Eliseo Quintanilla, Rodolfo Zelaya
First Half
Large bits of the first half were even between Mexico and El Salvador. Specifically, Rodolfo Zelaya constantly made runs that gave Mexico trouble in the opening minutes.
Pablo Barrera then took a left footed shot from the edge of the box in the 15th minute that looked like it would open the score, but the ball hit the corner of the crossbar.
Things started to heat up between the teams in the 27th minute. Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez received a yellow card for a foul during a corner kick.
Ten minutes later Barrera made a run from the left, but the field was not long enough for him. He then passed back to Andres Guardado, but Guardado couldn’t position himself and the ball took a deflection over the crossbar.
The first half ended with an even score line, with El Salvador giving Mexico trouble.
Second Half
In the 48th minute ‘Chicharito’ received a pass from overhead. He went up against Miguel Angel Montes, but the goalkeeper held and ‘Chicharito’ just crashed the ball against him.
Efrain Juarez opened the score in the 54th minute. Giovani Dos Santos started the play down the right, and he passed in to the box. Juarez found the ball, shot and tripped. Montes managed to block the initial shot, but couldn’t stop Juarez’s rebound off his shoulder. The ball hit the back of the net and Mexico went up 1-0.
Aldo de Nigris scored Mexico’s second within moments of entering the field as a substitute. De Nigris received the ball at the edge of the box, and then he tried to pass. The ball hit a Salvadorian player and then went through the legs of another. De Nigris picked up the ball and shot to double Mexico’s lead in the 57th minute.
Three minutes later ‘Chicharito’ scored Mexico’s third. Guardado crossed a ball that found ‘Chicharito’ and the player headed down a ball that bounced past Montes in the 60th minute.
In the 63rd minute, Dos Santos passed to ‘Chicharito,’ but the ball was blocked by the defense. De Nigris made an attempt on the follow up, but he sent the ball to the stands.
‘Chicharito’ scored a second goal in the 66th minute. Guradado sent the ball in from midfield and ‘Chicharito’ made his way in from the right to face the goalkeeper. He shot at the opposite post to give Mexico the 4-0 advantage.
At the end of the game ‘Chicharito’ was brought down in the box by Marvin Gonzalez. The referee pointed the spot and the defender received a straight red card and left the field.
‘Chicharito’ stepped to take the penalty. He sent Montes the opposite direction while taking a chip shot to complete his first hat-trick during his professional career.
Mexico will face Cuba on Thursday at 22:00 hour in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Mexico Vs. El Salvador, 2011 Gold Cup: Chicharito Holds The Key To Mexico Success
The most talked about player on the Mexico team also happens to be the most important one as El Tri chase their second consecutive Gold Cup title. Young and scoring with regularity for Manchester United, Javier 'Chicharito'Hernandez was always going to get headlines, but he also happens to fill the position Mexico most need help.
The last time that Mexico had a good striker who they could depend on to finish chances was when Jared Borgetti was putting the green shirt on and even he couldn't be trusted in the last couple years of his international career. Since about 2005, when age began to catch up with Borgetti, Mexico has had a nasty habit of controlling the midfield and looking dynamic in the attack, but not getting the results they wanted because of poor finishing.
Meanwhile, the United States stole away Mexico's CONCACAF dominance. The first step was when the U.S. defeated Mexico at the 2002 World Cup. Mexico bounced back with a 2003 Gold Cup win, but since then, El Tri have not won a major CONCACAF competition with top teams. The 2005 and 2007 Gold Cups went to the U.S. and the Americans finished first in CONCACAF qualifying for both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. The only thing that Mexico has won of late is the 2009 Gold Cup and that tournament came with both the U.S. and Mexico fielding weak teams, hardly something that El Tri can use in an argument to reassert their dominance.
A Gold Cup title this summer can tilt the power in CONCACAF in El Tri's direction though. Every country is bringing their top team and a spot in the 2013 Confederations Cup is on the line. Mexico just need to go out and win it, something Chicharito can have a huge role in doing.
All Gold Cup long, El Tri will dominate possession. There isn't a team in CONCACAF that can pass the ball as well as they can. They will also have no problem creating chances in the final third. Andrew Guardado and Giovani dos Santos are both in form and doing a tremendous job of running at defenders to unlock opponents' back lines. All Mexico needs is something to finish and if Chicharito showed anything, it is that he can finish.
Leading up to the Gold Cup, Mexico played two friendlies and were the vastly superior team in both. In only one match did the scoreline reflect the team's dominance though and that is because against Ecuador, Mexico and Aldo de Nigris in particular, couldn't finish their chances.
Not coincidentally, Chicharito was not with the Mexican team against Ecuador because he had the Champions League final earlier that day with Manchester United. He also didn't play a few days later against New Zealand. It has been a while since Chicharito played with the Mexico team so joining the team for the Gold Cup, he may get off to a slow start. That will hardly matter in the early going because no one El Tri will face early on should really challenge them.
That early going starts today against El Salvador in the Gold Cup opener. Chicharito is expected to start and Mexico is expected to have no issue getting three points, whether Chicharito is sharp or not. By the time Mexico get into the knockout stages though, Chicharito will be clicking and El Tri will have the finisher they have spent years waiting on.