Some bad officiating made life hard on Mexico, but they fought back to win their World Cup opener, downing Cameroon, 1-0.
Cameroon outclassed in every way by Mexico

Julian FinneyLayún/Guardado vs. the Cameroon right
With the left-sided overload a staple in Mexico’s attack, one would have expected Cameroon right back Allan Nyom to play a key defensive role. But Nyom never appeared*, and instead the Indomitable Lions found themselves relying on the untested figure of Cédric Djeugoue. Twenty-one years old and untested at a serious level, Djeugoue was tasked with shutting down the Layún/Guardado axis. Predictably, that didn’t go very well.
*It seems likely at this point that there was an unreported late injury.
Read Article >Mexico finally has a deserved lead
After an hour, they finally scored.
Read Article >IT’S MY GODSON STEPHANE MBIA
Mexico is getting jobbed
Giovani dos Santos has scored two goals. Neither counted. He wasn’t offside for the first one, and he wasn’t offside for the second one either.
Read Article >This wasn’t offside
Herrera says ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Feeling you, Miguel Herrera
Read Article >Mexico vs. Cameroon: Lineups

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY SportsCameroon lineup 4-3-3, with no surprises anywhere but their back four. Benoît Assou-Ekotto is given the nod over Henri Bedimo at left-back, while Nicolas N’Koulou and Aurélien Chedjou are both preferred over Joël Matip at center back.
Read Article >How to watch Mexico vs. Cameroon online

Warren LittleAll or nothing for Mexico and Cameroon

Adam PrettyThese types of matches do occasionally turn into borefests in which both teams are more afraid of losing than of not winning, but with Miguel Herrera at the helm of El Tri, this is unlikely to be the case. Herrera’s Club America never went into a negative mode, and his Mexico side haven’t done that at any point during his admittedly short tenure.
Attacking is in their blood and he doesn’t have the defensive midfielders in his stable to sit back and hold on for a shutout. Mexico have to attack to get good results, and if they score, Cameroon will have to attack them back.
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