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Mexico tied Argentina Tuesday, 2-2, in a lively match that got more interesting as it went. Mexico took a 2-0 lead into the 85th minute via a Chicharito Hernandez penalty kick and a nice shot from Hector Herrera, but Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi proved too much for Mexico to contain near the end. Here are our takeaways.
It was mostly positive for Mexico, given they drew with one of the best teams in the world.
They played 85 minutes of solid soccer.
That is no small feat against Argentina, who happen to have the best player in the world, especially considering what Argentina have done to break Mexican hearts in recent years.
Chicharito exorcised the penalty kick demon.
Hopefully these days are over for Chicharito. He did miss a quality opportunity the Argentine defense gifted him with some experimental passing at the back, but he scored and at least we know he can take penalties without falling down.
Argentina is pretty good.
Messi and company are ranked number one in the world by FIFA right now, and, even though Mexico lost the lead at the end, a tie is a pretty respectable result. Chicharito played well in his first international action since breaking his collarbone just before the Gold Cup, and they didn't look at all intimidated facing the Argentines. This bodes well for the playoff against the U.S., who are not nearly as good as Argentina and got thoroughly wrecked against Brazil Tuesday.
But, as with any game, there were negatives too.
They made a lot of sloppy mistakes.
Chicharito couldn't finish while one-on-one with the keeper, Moises Munoz had an "oopsie" that caused Sergio Aguero's goal and Mexico's defense totally forgot to mark the best player in the world during the most important moment of the game. These are moments that can lose you a game and they will have to cut those out against the U.S.
They didn't capitalize on as many opportunities as they could have.
Particularly in the first half, Mexico's finishing was iffy at best, and they could have easily been up by three or four at times, which would have negated the last five minutes, in which Argentina remembered that they're the best team in the world (per FIFA) and should probably start acting like it.
They lost focus near the end.
Right. Those last five minutes. It was going to end poorly for Mexico (at least considering the circumstances), you could just see it in the players' body language. Argentina perked up. Messi became more aggressive. They knew they could get one more, they just needed a little window. Mexico, meanwhile, were reeling, back on their heels. They stopped pressing Argentina's defense. They gave Messi too much space. They looked to be counting the seconds until the game was over, but there weren't enough seconds because Lionel Messi was in the game. That's the difference between good and great teams. Argentina smelled blood in the water even though they were trailing. Mexico rolled over even though they were ahead.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
