Mexico picked up their first win of the 2018 World Cup cycle on Tuesday, besting Bolivia, 1-0, in a friendly. Miguel Layun provided the difference for El Tri, who were the better side in front of a partisan crowd in Denver, CO., but still struggled some with many of their best players missing.
Mexico vs. Bolivia: Final score 1-0, Miguel Layun wins it for El Tri
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Miguel Herrera used few first choice players for this contest as the Mexico manager opted to give some youngsters and some once-exiled players an opportunity. Despite not having the likes of Hector Moreno, Diego Reyes, Carlos Pena, Giovani dos Santos, Javier Hernandez and Raul Jimenez, Mexico were the better side from the start, creating chances within minutes. Their pace overwhelmed Bolivia and in the 18th minute, they got on the scoreboard.
A nifty one-two at the top of the box between Javier Orozco and Cubo Torres undid the Bolivia defense, but Cubo’s finish wasn’t great. It was straight at the goalkeeper, but fortunately for El Tri, Daniel Vaca did not handle the shot well and left a fat rebound for Layun to tap into the back of the net.
With the 1-0 lead, Mexico had eased some of the pressure and they played comfortably the rest of the way. Cubo and Orozco both struggled to finish chances that could have buried Bolivia. The referee also turned away a couple penalty calls from El Tri, but they were all soft appeals and Mexico would have been better off trying to stay on their feet than go to ground. Still, as the sides went to halftime, there was no doubt who was on top.
In the second half, Bolivia began to come into the match and gave Mexico some fits. El Tri’s lack of cohesion and relative inexperienced began to show as Moises Munoz would have been busy had Bolivia been more clinical in front of goal. Instead, Bolivia missed the frame or took too many touches, ensuring that the Mexico goalkeeper wouldn’t be tested.
The match looked over in the 90th minute when Ramiro Balivian was sent off, but Bolivia’s best chance actually came minutes later with 10 men. With Bolivia pressing for a goal and throwing men forward, Ronaldo Eguino was inexplicably left unmarked at the back post, but when the ball found him, he couldn’t convert. His shot clattered off of the bar, Mexico cleared and El Tri were able to come away winners.
Mexico: Munoz, Ayala (Alanis 85’), Pizarro (Aguilar 78’), Layun, Venegas, Mier, Fabian (Guardado 68’), Aquino (Herrera 75’), Rios (Ponce 84’), Torres, Orozco (Peralta 62’).
Goals: Layun 82’.
Bolivia: Vaca, Eguino, D. Chavez (Balivian 45’), Raldes, Bejarano, J. Chavez (Miranda 45’), Maygua (Ovando 77’), Melean (Chumacero 45’), Bejarano, Cardozo (45’), Saucedo (Ramallo 65’)
Red cards: Balivian 90’.
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