March 3, 2010 STRONG SHOWING Mexico blanks New Zealand at Rose Bowl
Carlos Vela scored Mexico’s second goal against New Zealand. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
PASADENA---Mexico scored two second-half goals to defeat New Zealand 2-0 at the Rose Bowl Wednesday night.
El Tri took the lead in the 54th minute, when halftime substitute Javier Hernandez, leading scorer in the Mexican Primera Division with eight goals in seven games, rose up to head in a long pass from Carlos Salcedo.
Mexico went up 2-0 in the 58th minute, when Carlos Vela ran onto the ball and dribbled through the Kiwi defense to put a slow roller past goalkeeper Glen Moss.
Mexico, playing with many European-based players who have not had a lot of time on the field with their domestic counterparts, were unable to capitalize on a number of solid opportunities in the first half. Several balls played into the penalty area in the first 15 minutes were easily cleared by the New Zealand defense, at times playing with six men back.
Twenty-one minutes into the game, former Chicago Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco played a beautiful cross into the area, only to have it cleared away by defender Ben Sigmund. A few minutes later, Blanco got free in the penalty area, but could not control the ball.
In the 28th minute, a corner kick bounced out to Jonathan dos Santos, who banged a volley off the crossbar.
The crowd of 90,526. was one of the largest to see a soccer game at the Rose Bowl in the last decade. For Mexico, the game was the second of a six game series slated for the united States before they head to South Africa for the World Cup. The next game is agianst Iceland on March 24 in Charlotte, NC. El Tri won the first game on the tour 5-0 against Bolivia last week.
