Arlington, Texas, of.u. – James Rodríguez was prodigal with a couple of assists and the cross that led to another goal, and Colombia erased Mexico from the field to beat them 4-0 on Saturday in a preparation duel for two teams that will compete in next year’s World Cup.
Jhon Lucumí opened the scoring in the 16th minute against the lackadaisical Mexican defense, which let him finish with his right leg a precise cross from a free kick that James served to beat goalkeeper Luis Ángel Malagón.
Luis Díaz expanded in the 56th, after James sent him a pass from midfield so that he headed into the area and sentenced with a soft touch to give him a clear route to the coffee victory at AT&T Stadium.
The victory came with a powerful shot by Jefferson Lerma in the 64th, after James once again took a free kick that Erik Lira tried to clear, who instead left the ball at the mercy of the midfielder who sent it into the nets.
Colombia, which was third in the World Cup qualifiers, looked lethal in the set pieces.
“We are a team, we work as such and we are in those details. Today again we were able to compete with a dead ball, but the truth is that it depends much more than on the area we are going to search or on what we study the rival, on James’ punch or… that we have very good foul collectors, that I would tell you half of the achievement,” said Argentine coach Néstor Lorenzo.
Now without James on the field, Johan Carbonero sealed the win in the 87th, with a new victory in which he beat Malagón, who made a poor start to give definitive figures to the debacle of one of the co-hosts of the next World Cup, which was devastated by doubts.
“Anything I say after a 4-0 could sound like anything and I take responsibility,” said Mexican coach Javier Aguirre. “I think that the four goals, because of the way we train them, are avoidable. We need a little bit of knowing how to compete better… That’s what we’ve learned today.”
The Colombian team equaled Tri in 10 wins in their historic duels, in which they have also tied nine times. This rivalry has been evened out and now Colombia has the goal differential in its favor with a historic 31-29.
“Unfortunately, this 4-0 looks very catastrophic. Honestly, it was not something we expected. It is a preparation, we know it, but we must pay a little attention to the goals, because there are two from set pieces and two in transitions,” acknowledged Mexican defender Jorge Sánchez.
Both teams are certain of their participation in next year’s world event, Mexico as one of the host countries along with the United States and Canada, while Colombia advanced as one of the Conmebol qualifiers.
James, current star of León in the Liga MX, once again showed off his superb strike with his left foot, when from the right wing he took a curve in the free kick attached to the line, which surpassed the barrier of two elements so that Lucumí sent it to the back of the net with his right-footed shot. His pass to Díaz and then the new center into the area revealed the defensive problems of the Mexican team.
El Tri once again had the veteran Hirving Lozano among those called up, as well as in the previous two friendly matches. It was until the last play of the game that the team achieved its best option with a shot by the naturalized Germán Berterame that hit the post.
For Javier Aguirre’s El Tri, who is in his third stage on the Mexican national bench, this was his third defeat in 18 games. In the most recent three friendly games, against Japan and South Korea, the Mexican team has not won after having solved those games with 0-0 and 2-2 draws on the previous FIFA date in September.
“Today we couldn’t, they were simply better. They shot four times on goal and scored four goals. We weren’t even able to score one,” Aguirre reflected. “For me it would be very easy to justify that, that we have important losses and that the rival has players of a superlative level, but simply when you lose it is difficult to find a single argument. It is true that we can do things better.”
After this defeat, the Mexican team will return to their country to face Ecuador in Guadalajara on Tuesday. It will be a new confrontation against a rival that will be in the World Cup in North America.
Colombia will play another friendly duel that same day against another of the World Cup organizers. They will clash in New Jersey against Canada.
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