▲ The Tricolor suffered again in the air attack. Ap Photo
From the Editorial
La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, September 13, 2023, p. a10
For decades, the Mexican team held friendly matches in the United States with the certainty of ensuring an economic future. Being a profitable business for owners and federations, the relevance of its rivals – many of them outside the ranking FIFA – was not more important than the profits made in the stadiums. Some things changed after the last World Cup, such as the tranquility with which the Tricolor used to win its matches. What was once a recreational game now causes concern with the 3-3 draw against Uzbekistan at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Without experience in World Cups, the Uzbek players – known in Asian football as white wolves– showed their sharp fangs as if it were an international final. It is true that they did not have the same tools as the national team, whose attackers play in clubs in Europe and are led by elite coaches. But in the catalog of his philosophy a plan appeared to overthrow the prejudices that hovered in the stands, where hundreds of fans foreshadowed a scandal marker.
serious doubts
Unlike other processes in which each victory inflated the chests of the Mexicans more, this time Uzbekistan – 74th place in the FIFA classification and with the majority of local soccer elements – attacked the same problems that in past games hurt the team. project by Jaime Lozano; among them, the defeat against Qatar in the Gold Cup. When they found the right moment, the Asians led their collective performance with aplomb and, with a header from Bobur Abdikholikov (18) between Kevin Álvarez and Gilberto Sepúlveda, they achieved the 1-0 in the arch of Guillermo Ochoa.
Faced with a particularly frustrating start, doubts began to appear. Gone were the antecedents that exalted the presence of the Tricolor in the northern country, branch of historic goals and overwhelming victories. As Uzbekistan became an indecipherable enigma, Lozano’s team hammered through all possible routes until they achieved the tie, almost circumstantially. In the middle of several defenders inside the area, Roberto Alvarado dotted the ball before losing his balance and Raúl Jiménez changed his direction to score the tie (21).
Everything seemed to return to its point of origin. But the Uzbeks, who after the dissolution of the Soviet Union played their first international match in 1992, kept their desire afloat to take the business of the Mexicans. With that comfort that ignorance sometimes produces, Azizbek Turgunbaev (45+1) regained the lead towards the break and forced Lozano’s coaching staff to reconsider several questions.
With nothing changing with 10 minutes left before the referee’s whistle, Jiménez (81) and Uriel Antuna (89), the latter blocking a clearance that ended in a goal, offered the last flashes of energy in the Tricolor after submerging It is a performance marked by many questions. When the suffering seemed to go away, something seemed to awaken the nose of Otabek Shukurov (90+2), who studied Ochoa’s movements all night and, noticing that his skill was poor in the aerial game, made it 3-3 in a free kick that got out of hand (90+2).
If it was a safe place, the tour of the United States ratified the moment the national team has been going through since the last World Cup. Neither Australia (2-2) nor Uzbekistan, whose football tradition is minimal, turned out to be lesser rivals.
2023-09-13 11:09:25
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