Mexico stunned Brazil to win the gold medal in men’s soccer at the last Olympics, but they’re no fluke. They’ve been competitive at numerous youth international tournaments, winning the U-17 World Cup and finishing third at the U-20 World Cup in 2011. They’re expected to compete for a medal again at Rio 2016, so it was shocking when they struggled early against Fiji on Saturday.
Mexico vs. Fiji 2016: Final score 5-1, defending men’s Olympic soccer gold medalists come back from early scare
El Tri finished strong, but they were stunned by Fiji in the first half.
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Fiji is by far the weakest team in the men’s tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics -- they lost their opener 8-0 to South Korea -- but they took advantage of multiple mistakes and rules loopholes to make the games. They did not win their group in qualifying, but advanced to the knockout round anyway because the winners of their group, Tahiti, are not IOC members. New Caledonia, also a stronger team than Fiji, aren’t IOC members either. And because New Zealand fielded an ineligible player in their semifinal, Vanuatu were awarded the victory. Fiji -- only the fourth-best team in Oceania -- then went on to beat Vanuatu on penalties in the Olympic qualifying match to make the games.
So it was a shock when Fiji scored in the 10th minute against Mexico, with Roy Krishna getting on the board for his country. And even more shocking than that, Fiji managed to hold the lead all the way until halftime.
But El Tri came alive in the second half, with Erick Gutierrez pulling Mexico level in the 48th minute. Once that goal went in, the floodgates opened and Gutierrez scored three more himself. Carlos Salcido added another as Mexico eventually coasted to a comfortable win, but their fans will be asking questions of their team after a shocking first half.
Mexico drew Germany in their opener, and will face South Korea in their final group stage match. Fiji finishes up against medal favorites Germany.
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