England Football Online
  Page Last Updated 9 April 2012

Mexico

 

 

882 vs. Egypt
883
884 vs. Japan

Monday, 24 May 2010
A Nationwide 'Tickets For Troops' International Friendly

England 3 Mexico 1 [2-1] 

The National Stadium, Wembley, Brent, Greater London
Attendance: 88,638; Kick-off: 8.04pm BST
;  
Live on ITV One (UK) - Commentator: Peter Drury

England - Ledley King (five-yard header 17 16:10), Peter Crouch (chest from one-yard 34 33:55), Glen Johnson (nineteen yard curler 47 46:24).
Mexico - Guillermo Franco (two-yard tap-in 45
+3 47:09).
Match Summary
England Squad
Mexico Squad
Results 2005-2010 Mexico - Pablo Barrera (66), Giovani dos Santos (67), Francisco Rodríguez  (89).

Mexico kicked-off. 95 minutes (47:15 & 48:14).

 

Match Summary

Officials from Japan

England

Type

Mexico

Referee (yellow) - Masaaki Toma Iemoto
36 (2 June 1973), Hiroshima, FIFA-listed 2005.

Assistant Referees - Toshiyuki Nagi, 38 (29 November 1971) and Haruhiro Otsuka, 35 (16 April 1975).

Fourth official - Martin Atkinson, 39 (31 March 1971), Bradford, England.
This match is dedicated by the Football Association to the brave men and women serving England in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Teams presented to FA-vice Chairman Dave Richards and his Mexican counterpart - as well members of the Armed Forces.
A minutes applause was also observed for the Nation's Troops.

7 Goal Attempts 16
5 Attempts on Target 9
1 Hit Bar/Post 1
3 Corner Kicks Won 7
3 Offside Calls Against 3
9 Fouls Conceded 20
34.3% Possession 65.7%

England Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (28th April 2010) 8th
EFO ranking Group 2

ELO rating 4th
Colours: The 2009 home uniform - Plain white collared jerseys, plain white shorts, plain white socks.
Capt: Rio Ferdinand, fourth captaincy.
Steven Gerrard, second half
Manager: Fabio Capello, 63 (18 June 1946), appointed 14 December 2007, effective 7 January 2008, 
23rd match, W 17 - D 2 - L 4 - F 59 - A 19.
England Lineup
1 Green, Robert P., off 46th min. 30 18 January 1980 G West Ham United FC 10 8ᵍᵃ
2 Johnson, Glen M. 25 23 August 1984 RB Liverpool FC 21 1
3 Baines, Leighton J. 25 11 December 1984 LB Everton FC 2 0
4 Gerrard, Steven G. 29 30 May 1980 LM Liverpool FC 79 16
5 Ferdinand, Rio G., off 46th min. 31 7 November 1978 CD Manchester United FC 77 2
6 King, Ledley B. 29 12 October 1980 CD Tottenham Hotspur FC 20 1
7 Walcott, Theo J., off 77th min. 21 16 March 1989 RM Arsenal FC 10 3
8 Carrick, Michael, off 61st min. 28 28 July 1981 DM Manchester United FC 22 0
9 Crouch, Peter J., off 46th min. 29 30 January 1981 CF Tottenham Hotspur FC 38 21
10 Rooney, Wayne M. 24 24 October 1985 AM Manchester United FC 59 24
11 Milner, James P., off 85th min. 24 4 January 1986 DM Aston Villa FC 8 0
England Substitutes
scoreline: England 2 Mexico 1
12 Hart, C. Joseph J., on 46th min. for Green 23 19 April 1987 G Manchester City FC 2 0ᵍᵃ
13 Carragher, James L.D., on 46th min. for Ferdinand 32 28 January 1978 CD Liverpool FC 35 0
23 Defoe, Jermain C., on 46th min. for Crouch 27 7 October 1982 F Tottenham Hotspur FC 40 11
scoreline: England 3 Mexico 1
20 Huddlestone, Thomas A., on 61st min. for Carrick 23 28 December 1986 DM Tottenham Hotspur FC 2 0
17 Lennon, Aaron J., on 77th min. for Walcott 23 16 April 1987 RM Tottenham Hotspur FC 16 0
21 Johnson, Adam, on 85th min. (84:20) for Milner 22 14 July 1987 DM Manchester City FC 1 0
result: England 3 Mexico 1
unused substitutes: 14-Michael Dawson, 15-Matthew Upson, 16-Stephen Warnock, 18-Scott Parker, 20-Shaun Wright-Phillips, 22-Emile Heskey, 24-David James.
team notes: Jermain Defoe comes on as a substitute for a record 27th occasion.
Steven Gerrard has now appeared in sixteen of England's eighteen home matches at the National Stadium, just one ahead of Gareth Barry, who in turn is two ahead of Frank Lampard.
Tom Huddlestone is the fiftieth different player to play at the National Stadium.
Adam Johnson is the fifth player to make his England debut at the new Stadium, the third substitute.
Ledley King's goal is the fiftieth scored at the new Stadium.
Both Jamie Carragher and Ledley King make their second appearance at the Stadium, since their very first at the inaugural match in June 2007.
Peter Crouch is the second player after Frank Lampard, to score in three consecutive matches at the National Stadium.
Coach Fabio Capello played for Italy against England in June (scoring one) and November 1973 (scoring another), and in May and November 1976.
 
4-2-3-1 Green (Hart) -
G.Johnson, Ferdinand (Carragher), King, Baines -
Carrick
(Huddlestone), Milner (A.Johnson) -
Walcott
(Lennon), Rooney, Gerrard -
Crouch
(Defoe)

Averages (Starting XI):

Age 26.8 Appearances/Goals 31.5 6.2

 

Mexico Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (28th April 2010) 17th
EFO ranking Group 6

ELO rating 8th
Colours: Made by Adidas - Black v-neck jerseys with green underarm panel/hem and red collar Adidas sleeve trim, black shorts with red Adidas side trim, black socks with red Adidas trim.
Capt: Gerardo Torrado Manager: Javier Aguirre Onaindía, 51 (1 December 1958), appointed 16 April 2009,
19th match, W 14 - D 2 - L 3 - F ? - A ?
Mexico Lineup
12 Pérez Rojas, Óscar 37 1 February 1973 G Jaguares de Chiapas 50 0
2 Rodríguez Pinedo, Francisco J. 28 10 October 1981 CD Philips Sports Vereniging NV, Netherlands 46 1
Rodríguez cautioned in the 89th min. for Unsporting Behaviour, for scything down Aaron Lennon as he ran into the penalty area.
3 Salcido Flores, Carlos A. 30 2 April 1980 RB Philips Sports Vereniging NV, Netherlands 71 6
4 Márquez Álvarez, Rafael 31 13 February 1979 CM FC Barcelona, Spain 89 10
5 Osorio Mendoza, Ricardo 30 30 March 1980 CD unattached 75 1
6 Torrado Diez de Bonilla, Gerardo 31 30 April 1979 CM CDSC Cruz Azul AC 112 6
16 Juárez Valdez, Efraín 22 22 February 1988 LB Club Universidad Nacional AC 18 0
13 Aguilar Rojas, Paul N., off 52nd min. 24 6 March 1986 RM CF Pachuca 8 2
9 Franco Farquarson, Guillermo L., off 46th min. 33 3 November 1976 F West Ham United FC, England 21 7
17 dos Santos Ramirez, Giovani, off 72nd min. 21 11 May 1989 LM Galatasaray SK, Turkey, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur FC, England 24 5
dos Santos cautioned in the 67th min. for Ungentlemanly Conduct, for encroachment at a free-kick.
11 Vela Garrido, Carlos A., off 61st min. 21 1 March 1989 F Arsenal FC, England 25 8
Mexico Substitutes
scoreline: England 2 Mexico 1
14 Hernández Balcázar, Javier, on 46th min. for Franco 21 1 June 1988 F CD Guadalajara SA de CV 9 4
scoreline: England 3 Mexico 1
7 Barrera Acosta, Pablo E., on 52nd min. for Aguilar 22 21 June 1987 F Club Universidad Nacional AC 17 3
Barrera cautioned in the 66th min. for Unsporting Behaviour, for bringing down Steven Gerrard as he ran into the penalty area.
18 Guardado Hernández, J. Andrés, on 61st min. for Vela 23 28 September 1986 M RC Deportivo de La Coruña, Spain 53 8
10 Blanco Bravo, Cuauhtémoc, on 72nd min. for dos Santos 37 17 January 1973 F Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz 114 38
result: England 3 Mexico 1
unused substitutes: 1-Francisco Ochoa, 8-Israel Castro, 15-Héctor Moreno, 19-Jonny Magallón, 20-Jorge Torres Nilo, 21-Adolfo Bautista, 22-Alberto Medina, 23-Luis Michel, 24-Jonathan dos Santos.
Coach Javier Aguirre played for Mexico against England in the minor tournament friendly in June 1985. And also a year later in the 1986 World Cup Finals warm-up match.
 
4-4-2 Pérez -
Juárez, Rodríguez, Osorio, Salcido -
Aguilar
(Barrera), Márquez, Torrado, dos Santos (Blanco) -
Vela
(Guardado), Franco (Hernández).

Averages (Starting XI):

Age 28.0 Appearances/Goals 49.0 4.1

 

    Match Report by Mike Payne

With quite a few players unavailable for one reason or another, Fabio Capello went in to this last England match at Wembley, before the World Cup starts in just three weeks time, with a bit of a makeshift side.  As a result the performance was a little patchy, with some good moments and some not so good.  Overall though the 3-1 win gave the team a good send off for the battles that lie ahead.

Mexico were a useful side who worked hard and kept possession well, and in the first half particularly, the visitors were on top, possession wise.  Unfortunately for them though they conceded two goals from England's best two attacks.  England's midfield of Theo Walcott, Michael Carrick, Steven Gerrard and James Milner never really gelled, not surprising really as this quartet had never played together before.  But more than that they allowed the Mexicans to come forward too easily and never shut down the lively visitors enough.  Having said that, Mexico didn't create much to trouble Robert Green in the England goal.  In fact it was England who took the lead after 17 minutes.  A needlessly conceded corner gave Gerrard the chance to send a cross to the far post for Peter Crouch to rise high and nod across goal to where an unmarked Ledley King was stood.  The Spurs defender cleverly flicked in a powerful header for his first goal for England since March 2004.  It was goal England barely deserved but showed their strength at set pieces and Mexico's weakness.

Mexico came back strongly and in one fine attack, which exposed some sluggishness amongst the England defenders, Giovanni dos Santos set up Carlos Vela who seemed certain to score.  But Green dived to his right to make a superb save and England held their lead.  Indeed, on 35 minutes they made it 2-0.  From another corner, Milner played it short to Gerrard who whipped in a cross that was met by Wayne Rooney's header.  Oscar Perez made a brilliantly acrobatic save to tip it on to the crossbar but as the ball dropped Crouch put his body in the way to bundle the ball home.  Crouch's scoring record for England has now reached unbelievable heights, let's hope he has saved a few for the next few weeks!

Mexico were not put off by the scoreline and continued to play neat inter-passing football, making the England players work hard.  Green made another good save but was lucky when another shot scraped the outside of his left-hand post.  Right on the half-time whistle Mexico were duly rewarded with a deserved goal, albeit a rather scrappy one.  Again the goal came from a corner and when Rafael Marquez headed goalwards all the players seemed to freeze.  Green was beaten but Leighton Baines managed to block the ball on the line.  However when it bounced out the limping Guillermo Franco forced home the rebound.  As the players trooped off at the break it was everything to play for. 

It's probably fair to say that manager Capello had a few choice words for his charges during the break, with 'step up the pace', 'shut the Mexicans down' and 'work harder' being the phrases that the players would hear.  After the restart it was soon obvious that England were in a more determined frame of mind.  And within two minutes of the half gone, and many of the crowd not even back in their seats, England scored the goal of the game.  Clever work by Walcott and Glen Johnson gave the full-back the chance to run at the Mexican defence.  As he cut inside he left several defenders in his wake before unleashing a magnificent left-foot shot into the far top corner.  It was his first for England and one he will remember long after this game is forgotten. 

The goal effectively killed off any chance of a Mexican fightback and with several second half substitutes eager to impress Capello had the chance to see a few other options.  Joe Hart took over from the impressive Green, Jamie Carragher came on for Rio Ferdinand and Jermaine Defoe replaced Crouch.  Hart had a few simple saves, but still looked sharp and alert, whilst Carragher was his usual efficient self and Defoe showed good pace.  But through the half goal chances were few at either end and the nearest England came to another goal was when Gerrard's free-kick just went wide.  The good thing from Capello's viewpoint was England's increased control of the match.  Aaron Lennon had one brilliant run and debutant Adam Johnson showed a lively touch after his introduction.  With the Chelsea contingent all champing at the bit the manager will not be short of options.

Source Notes

BBC Sport
TheFA.com
ITV.com/football
FeMexFut.org.mx
Mediotempo.com
JFA website
RateTheRef
Mike Payne - football historian and contributor

____________________

CG