In one of the most discussed matches of the last few days, Mexico and Uruguay did not settle for the…suspicious draw, but nevertheless celebrated qualifying to the second round of the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Óscar Tabárez and his players left the field victorious, grabbing the first spot of Group A that guarantees an easier opponent in the round of 16. At the same time Mexico finished in second place, and is also extremely happy to advance despite losing today’s game.
Both teams needed a single point to qualify, but the coaches decided to play with an attacking roster and not aim for a draw. Javier Aguirre had three strikers on the field right from the start, and Tabárez only made one substitution to the Uruguay team that had scored three goals in the previous game. The attacking direction for both Mexico and Uruguay proved to be true on the field, with a game that had rhythm right from the start and quite a few chances overall. Uruguay lost a fantastic opportunity to open the score just 6 minutes in the game, but Luis Suárez missed the target with only the goalkeeper left to beat. Andrés Guardado’s long shot hit the post in 22′ for Mexico’s biggest chance of the game, so Uruguay took the opportunity and scored a goal Suárez before half time.
Mexico came back on the field concerned, they were down one goal and at the same time South Africa was up two. Just one more goal each from both Uruguay and the host nation and Mexico would be left outside. Uruguay almost did their part in 54′ with a powerful foul shot from Diego Forlán and a close header by captain Diego Lugano. Mexico picked up the pace to control the ball possession, and when news came in the France scored a goal in 70′ the game was pretty much over with both Uruguay and Mexico happy to advance further in the World Cup 2010.
