The Hindu : Sport / Football : Mexico beats Brazil

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 21, 2005

Sport

Sport - Football

Mexico beats Brazil

FRANKFURT: For a day at least, the king of Latin American soccer is Mexico.

Mexico upset Brazil 1-0 on Sunday in the Confederations Cup, outplaying the five-time World Cup champions with Jared Borgetti snatching the winner on a 59th-minute header.

Mexico joined Germany and Argentina in the semifinals of this high-profile showcase, a two-week tuneup for next year's World Cup.

"It's a great triumph for Mexico. It was a great battle," said Mexico 'keeper Oswaldo Sanchez.

In Sunday's other Group B game, Asian champion Japan beat European champion Greece 1-0. Greece is out of the chase to reach the semifinals. The other berth will be decided on Wednesday when Japan plays Brazil.

Mexico's victory gave it six points in Group B. Japan and Brazil have three each, and Greece zero.

The semifinals are next weekend and the final on June 29.

Justice done

In Hanover, Borgetti headed in a corner kick that beat flat-footed Brazil goalkeeper Dida. The corner was set up when Ramon Morales raced down the left side, and cut the ball across the goalmouth with Brazilian Lucio just deflecting it across the goal-line. It was justice for Borgetti.

In the 29th minute, Roque Junior was called for pulling him down in the area. Borgetti netted the first penalty, but it was disallowed by Italian referee Roberto Rosetti. He ruled a Mexican player strayed into the area. His next penalty attempt went off the crossbar, but Rosetti also revoked that saying Dida moved off the goal-line before the shot.

The third attempt was stopped by Dida diving to his right.

It was also a sweet victory for Mexico's Argentine coach Ricardo Lavolpe. "It's never easy playing against a great team like Brazil," Lavolpe said. "My players made a double effort to secure this result."

Oguro delivers

In Frankfurt, substitute Masashi Oguro's goal in the 76th minute lifted Japan over Greece. Oguro, who came on in the 66th, took a through ball from Shunsuke Nakamura and slipped it past Greek 'keeper Antonis Nikopolidis from 10 metres (yards). — AP

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport