Mexico vs. New Zealand: Final score 2-1, El Tri comes back to save their Confederations Cup

For 45 minutes, Mexico’s chances of progressing in the Confederations Cup looked to be in serious danger. But winger Javier Aquino burst to life in the second half, setting up two goals in El Tri’s 2-1 comeback victory over New Zealand.

There was some controversy in the 27th minute, when the Kiwis continued an attack while a Mexican player was down injured. Carlos Salcedo was shoved to the ground and clearly in need of medical attention, but the referee didn’t stop the match, and New Zealand didn’t kick the ball out. Instead, they pushed forward and Mexico keeper Alfredo Talavera was forced to make a save on Chris Wood. That sparked a big argument, featuring El Tri boss Juan Carlos Osorio swearing at the New Zealand bench.

Salcedo was genuinely injured, and there was a long delay in helping him off the pitch. He was replaced by Hector Moreno.

New Zealand captured the lead in the 41st minute, partially thanks to a turnover by Nestor Araujo. His clearance went directly to Clayton Lewis, who found Wood with a through ball. Oswaldo Alanis failed to step up and challenge the All Whites forward, who placed his finish past Talavera for the opening goal.

Osorio strangely picked a lineup without any true central midfielders, instead picking one center back masquerading as a defensive midfielder and a No. 10 farther up the pitch. That setup was easily exploited, so Hector Herrera came on to replace Alanis at halftime. With an actual midfielder on the pitch, El Tri started to dominate the match.

Mexico equalized in the 54th minute through Raúl Jimenez, thanks to a brilliant setup by Aquino. He nutmegged his defender in midfield, then burst forward on a 40-yard run before squaring for Marco Fabian. He touched the ball to Jimenez, who scored from 15 yards out.

Aquino actually got credit with the assist for a similar play in the 72nd minute that won the three points for El Tri. Once again, he beat his man down the left flank and found space to play a low cross, this time to Oribe Peralta, who had an even easier finish than Jimenez before him.

A stoppage tackle by Reyes on Michael Boxall incited a scuffle, leading to a video assistant referee review to look for potential infractions. No red cards were shown despite some slaps and shoves to the ground, but three players — Reyes, Boxall, and Herrera — were shown yellow cards.

The Kiwis were unable to capitalize on the ensuing free kick, leaving them with no points from their first two matches. They won’t make the knockout rounds, and can now only play spoiler in their final match against Portugal.