Mexico claimed a convincing 2-0 victory against Ghana during a World Cup preparation match held Friday evening in Puebla, providing fans a preview of the anticipation growing with less than three weeks remaining until the nation begins tournament competition.
Despite Puebla not being designated as one of Mexico’s World Cup venue locations, supporters wearing green jerseys generated an energetic environment all evening long. Continuous waves circled the venue even though certain sections remained visibly vacant due to closures mandated by FIFA penalties related to offensive crowd behavior during earlier national squad competitions.
Brian Gutierrez established Mexico’s dominance right away, bending a shot into the net from outside the penalty area just two minutes into play at Cuauhtemoc Stadium.
Young Liga MX standout Gil Mora hit the goalpost during the opening period, while Alexis Vega saw his header disallowed due to an offside violation before halftime arrived.
Ghana, playing without their newly named coach Carlos Queiroz who was not present while assistant coaches directed from the sideline, nearly found an equalizer early in the second period after creating two goalkeeper saves and striking the upper crossbar.
However, replacement player Guillermo Martinez crushed the visiting team’s comeback hopes in the 54th minute, completing a fast break opportunity to extend Mexico’s advantage to two goals.
Manager Javier Aguirre utilized the exhibition match to assess his roster before announcing Mexico’s complete World Cup team selection on June 1st, bringing in European-based talents Edson Alvarez, Jorge Sanchez and Luis Chávez for second-half action after they recently arrived at the training facility.
