Mexico Knocked Out of World Cup

Mexico’s World Cup hopes came to an abrupt end when the national team lost 3-1 to Argentina in the round of 16.

The first goal was a disgraceful decision by the referee and linesman to allow the goal to stand when it was clearly offside. The two consulted following protests from the Mexican players who could see the error on a screen at the stadium, but decided to award the goal anyway, even though play had not yet resumed.

After that a terrible defensive error, easily the worst of the tournament, led to Mexico being two goals down, and a third goal by Argentine striker Carlos Tevez put an end to Mexico’s hopes of reaching the quarter finals. A late goal by Javier Hernandez at least made the scoreline look respectable.

There will probably be an informal inquest – or a formal one, who knows – into the reasons for Mexico’s failure to advance further in the World Cup, but it’s unlikely that anything will come of it.

Mexico has reached the second round and lost there in every World Cup since 1994, so this wasn’t much different. It was, however, the country’s worst showing since the 1978 disaster, not including the 1982 and 1990 when the team didn’t make it into the tournament.

It was also the Mexican side that had the most ever  “European” players, that is, Mexicans who play for club teams in Europe. So much for that.