A fierce lightning storm around the stadium in Mexico City forced organisers to delay Tuesday night's FIFA World Cup Round of 32 clash between Mexico and Ecuador, pushing the kickoff back with no revised start time announced for close to two hours. When the match finally got underway, Mexico controlled it from start to finish, with Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez scoring either side of the half hour mark to seal a 2-0 win that keeps the hosts on course for the Round of 16, level with the best World Cup campaigns the country has ever produced.
Storm Forces a Long Delay Before Kickoff
The storm rolled in roughly two hours before the scheduled kickoff, catching both squads midway through their pre match routines. By that point, the two head coaches had already named their starting elevens and sent their players out for the customary warm up on the pitch, only for the weather to force everyone back inside. Organisers did not immediately confirm a fresh kickoff time, leaving fans both inside the stadium and watching from home waiting for updates before play eventually got underway later that night. The stakes riding on the result were considerable for the home side. A place in the Round of 16 would put Mexico level with the best World Cup runs in its history, the team having advanced as far as the quarterfinals only twice before, in 1970 and in 1986, both times while hosting the tournament on home soil.
The Starting Lineups
Mexico's head coach sent out Raul Rangel in goal, protected by a back line of Jorge Sanchez, Cesar Montes, Johan Vasquez and Jesus Gallardo. Erick Lira and Luis Romo held the middle of the park alongside Gilberto Mora, while Raul Jimenez led the line flanked by Julian Quinones and Roberto Alvarado. Ecuador lined up with Hernan Galindez between the posts, shielded by a defence of Piero Hincapie, Joel Ordonez, Willian Pacho and Pedro Vite. Alan Franco and Moises Caicedo anchored midfield, and the attacking trio of Jhon Yeboah, Gonzalo Plata and Nilson Angulo supported lone striker Enner Valencia.
Quinones and Jimenez Put Two Goals Between the Sides
Once the action finally began, the opening minutes were scrappy and stop start. Ecuador won an early free kick inside the first two minutes after Gonzalo Plata was caught by a challenge in his own half, and Mexico conceded again almost immediately when Roberto Alvarado was penalised for a foul of his own. Mexico settled first, though. In the third minute, Alvarado curled a left footed effort at goal from outside the box off a Mora pass, only to see it blocked. Mora then went even closer himself, curling a right footed attempt just over the crossbar in the fifth minute from a Jorge Sanchez assist, and Luis Romo followed a minute later with a near identical effort from the edge of the area, also drifting over off a ball from Alvarado. Raul Jimenez almost broke the deadlock in the seventh minute, meeting a low, driven Romo cross from a rapid counter attack with a header that flashed just wide of the left post.
Ecuador began to find a foothold past the ten minute mark, winning a free kick when Quinones fouled Moises Caicedo, before Mexico hit back with a corner in the fourteenth minute after Willian Pacho gave the ball away under pressure. From that corner, Alvarado's low right footed strike, set up by Quinones, was blocked by the Ecuador defence, and moments later Mora curled another effort narrowly wide from the left side of the box. Ecuador's best chance of the opening quarter followed in the seventeenth minute: Jhon Yeboah thumped a fierce left footed strike off the inside of the post from a Piero Hincapie setup, a warning that Mexico's back line could not afford to switch off. The two teams continued exchanging fouls through the following minutes, with Yeboah, Pacho, Jesus Gallardo and Jimenez all penalised at various points as both sides searched for the game's first real breakthrough.
That breakthrough arrived in the twenty first minute. Julian Quinones ran onto a defence splitting through ball from Roberto Alvarado and finished with real composure, curling a right footed shot from the left side of the box into the top left corner to make it 1-0. Play paused briefly for a drinks break in the twenty fifth minute, after which Ecuador conceded another free kick through Enner Valencia as they tried to regroup. Mexico wasted little time doubling their advantage once the game resumed: in the thirtieth minute, Raul Jimenez collected a second assist of the night from Quinones and drilled a right footed finish from the centre of the box into the top right corner, making it 2-0 and putting real daylight between the two sides.
Rangel Denies Yeboah as Mexico Close Out the Half
Ecuador tried to respond, but for long stretches the half was reduced to a string of free kicks and corners at both ends. Mexico won free kicks through fouls on Cesar Montes and twice more through Roberto Alvarado in the attacking half, while Ecuador were awarded set pieces after fouls charged against Nilson Angulo and, moments later, Julian Quinones. Ecuador's Moises Caicedo also won a free kick of his own in the thirty seventh minute. Mexico's goalkeeper Raul Rangel was called into serious action soon after, diving low to his left to keep out a powerful left footed drive from Jhon Yeboah that Willian Pacho had teed up, before conceding a corner from the resulting phase of play. Ecuador picked up further corners off mistakes from Alvarado and Jorge Sanchez, but Mexico continued to look the more dangerous side going forward: Jimenez headed over the crossbar from a Mora cross in the forty third minute, then fired wide from distance a minute later after Sanchez had teed him up.
The fourth official signalled five added minutes at the end of the half. In that time, Ecuador's Alan Franco was booked with a yellow card after conceding a foul, and both sides picked up further free kicks apiece, involving Yeboah, Quinones and Gallardo, while Ecuador also won a stoppage time corner off a Jorge Sanchez error. The referee's whistle for halftime arrived with the scoreline unchanged: Mexico 2, Ecuador 0.
Ecuador Make Wholesale Changes at the Break
Ecuador used the interval to freshen things up, sending on Angelo Preciado in place of Joel Ordonez and Yaimar Medina for Alan Franco as they searched for a way back into the contest. Mexico's head coach kept faith with his starting eleven, and the second half kicked off with the score still 2-0 in the home side's favour.
Second Half Chances Come and Go
Mexico nearly extended their lead early in the second period when Roberto Alvarado, released by Quinones, curled a left footed effort from the right side of the box that flew high and wide of the target. Ecuador continued to give away fouls, this time through Yaimar Medina, while also winning free kicks of their own courtesy of Yeboah and, at the other end, Mexico's Gilberto Mora. Ecuador's Pedro Vite tested the Mexico goal in the fiftieth minute with a curling left footed effort, set up by Gonzalo Plata, that drifted over the bar, and Gilberto Mora responded for Mexico moments later with a right footed attempt from an Erick Lira pass that Ecuador's defenders managed to smother. Enner Valencia was then caught offside as Ecuador pushed for an equaliser.
Both sides kept trading free kicks through the fifties and into the hour mark, with Mora, Piero Hincapie, Pacho and Jimenez all involved at various points, before the substitutions started coming thick and fast. Ecuador introduced Kevin Rodriguez for Enner Valencia in the fifty eighth minute, and Mexico responded almost immediately by sending on Brian Gutierrez for Gilberto Mora. Gutierrez himself conceded a foul soon after arriving on the pitch. The game continued to stretch from box to box, with Ecuador forcing a corner off a Quinones error in the sixty third minute.
Mexico Turn the Screw as Galindez Keeps Ecuador Alive
Mexico began to look the sharper side again past the hour mark, winning back to back corners in quick succession, the first after Hernan Galindez turned the ball behind his own goal line and the second after Willian Pacho did the same. From one of those corners, Johan Vasquez headed narrowly wide from close range off an Alvarado delivery, and moments later Galindez was called into real action, producing a strong save to deny a Cesar Montes header that had been arrowing for the top of his goal, once again created from an Alvarado cross. A water break paused the action shortly afterwards, and once play resumed, Ecuador won another corner off a further Alvarado mistake as the seventy second minute approached.
Mexico made a double change around this point, bringing on Obed Vargas for Luis Romo and, minutes later, Santiago Gimenez for the night's first goalscorer, Raul Jimenez. Ecuador kept searching for an opening of their own: Kevin Rodriguez struck a right footed effort from the centre of the box, teed up by a Moises Caicedo through ball, that flew just wide in the seventy fourth minute. Play was held up again soon after when Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel needed treatment for an injury, with the match resuming a few minutes later. Fouls continued to be shared fairly evenly between the sides, with Johan Vasquez and Kevin Rodriguez both penalised at different points, before Santiago Gimenez and Piero Hincapie were both involved in a further free kick exchange past the seventy seventh minute.
A Flurry of Late Changes and Chances
Both coaches turned repeatedly to their substitutes' benches as the match entered its final quarter. Ecuador brought on Kendry Paez for Nilson Angulo and Jordy Caicedo for Jhon Yeboah, while Mexico introduced Orbelin Pineda for Julian Quinones and Israel Reyes for Roberto Alvarado as they looked to see out the win with fresh legs. Free kicks and a corner continued to change hands through this period, with Gonzalo Plata, Jorge Sanchez and Jordy Caicedo all involved around the eightieth and eighty second minutes, and further free kicks going the way of Santiago Gimenez and Pedro Vite past the eighty third minute.
Ecuador kept probing for a goal that would have changed the complexion of the tie. Moises Caicedo tried his luck from outside the box in the eighty fifth minute but shot wide of the target, Yaimar Medina headed off target from a Kendry Paez assist in the eighty eighth minute, and Jordy Caicedo saw a left footed effort from a Kevin Rodriguez setup saved in the same passage of play. Mexico still had opportunities of their own too, with substitute Orbelin Pineda curling a right footed effort just over the top corner from an Erick Lira pass in the ninety second minute.
An Ugly Chant Overshadows the Contest
The football itself was overshadowed by an incident in the first half of the match against Ecuador, when sections of the Mexico crowd were heard using a chant that is widely regarded as anti gay. The chant is a one word Spanish language slur that translates to male sex worker, and it is typically aimed at an opposing goalkeeper the moment he steps up to take a goal kick. It rang out in the fifth minute, precisely when Ecuador's goalkeeper Hernan Galindez took his first goal kick of the match. This marked the second time such chanting has been heard at this tournament, and it comes after the Mexican football federation has already been fined by FIFA on several previous occasions over the very same conduct from its supporters.
Hincapie Sees Red as Mexico Close Out the Win
As the match moved into its closing stages, Kendry Paez was penalised for a foul on Orbelin Pineda, who won a free kick for Mexico in the ninety second minute, and Paez was then shown a yellow card moments later for what officials judged an unnecessarily aggressive challenge. The biggest flashpoint of the night, though, came in the ninety fourth minute, when a VAR review upgraded a card already shown to Ecuador's Piero Hincapie, and the defender was sent off with a straight red, leaving his side to play out the remainder of the match with ten men.
The fourth official then signalled a lengthy seven minutes of stoppage time. Fouls kept coming from both sides in that added period: Santiago Gimenez was penalised, handing Pedro Vite a free kick, Cesar Montes then won one of his own after Jordy Caicedo committed a foul, and Orbelin Pineda picked up a further free kick after Moises Caicedo was penalised and shown a yellow card for a dangerous challenge deep into stoppage time. The referee finally called an end to proceedings in the ninety eighth minute, with Mexico closing out a 2-0 win over ten man Ecuador to move a step closer to matching the best World Cup campaigns in the country's history.
