Mexico go down to 10 players but still defeat Costa Rica at U20 CONCACAF Championship

Mexico all but booked their ticket to the Quarterfinals of the CONCACAF U20 Championship after defeating Costa Rica by a 2-0 score. Mexico overcame going down to 10 players to get a victory that place them at 6 points, basically guaranteeing them to be at worst one of the two best third placed teams and thus the ticket to the Quarterfinals. Mexico will look to win the group against Guatemala on Thursday while Costa Rica faces off against Antigua and Barbuda earlier that day.

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The 1st half started with Mexico coming out with most of the starting 11 from their opener against Antigua and Barbuda. Off a free kick, a cross into the area was almost deflected in by Gabriel Sibaja, as Costa Rica had the first chance of the match. Off a counter, Kionell Estrada got off a right footed shot in the area that went wide. A right footed shot from outside the area from Hugo Camberos went well wide. Both teams traded possession as the match became very even. A bad clearance allowed Matias Cordero to get the ball in the area but his shot was well saved by Mexico’s goalkeeper, Juan Liceaga. After a harsh foul, there was a short scuffle between teams that ended with David Carro getting a Yellow card. The match continued to be extremely chippy as Mexico couldn’t get going against Costa Rica’s physical play. From outside the area, Samir Inda got off a great left footed shot that was deflected off the post. Mexico started to dominate possession as Costa Rica sat back and waited to counter. After a cross into the area was won by Santiago Sandoval, he would get brought down in the area by Adrian Espinoza and a Penalty Kick was given to Mexico. Hugo Camberos stepped up to take the PK and got off a thunderous right footed shot that went past Costa Rica’s goalkeeper, Ian O’Rourke to score and give Mexico the 1-o lead. From outside the area, Juan Echivelstre got off a great right footed shot that forced O’Rourke to make a great save. Emmanuel Hernandez answered with a right footed shot from outside the area that Liceaga made a great save on it. The halftime whistle blew and after a slow start to the match, Mexico ended the half being the better team.

The 2nd half started with Mexico subbing out Carlos Hernandez for Yohan Orozco. Strangely three minutes into the half, Mexico subbed out Aldahir Valenzuela (possibly because of an injury) for Diego Reyes. A bad clearance from Liceaga ended up with him clearing the ball and kicking Sibaja in the face which earned him a straight red card. It was a terrible mistake from the goalkeeper that now placed the match in extreme danger with only 10 players. Mexico would sub out Juan Sigala for Cristo Navarrate, which because of the strange substitution of Valenzuela, meant that Mexico only had one window for subs for the rest of the match. Off a counter, Inda would make a great pass to Santiago Sandoval, whose left footed shot would be deflected by Emmanuel Brenes past O’Rourk and into the net to score and give Mexico the surprising 2-0 lead. Costa Rica subbed out Kionell Estrada, Adrian Espinoza and Emmanuel Hernandez for Keynes Hernandez, Dax Palmer and Yamil Leal. A long ball into the area almost got handled outside it by Navarrete but he was able to clear it before he could do the mistake. Costa Rica subbed out Walter Ramirez for Kaden Farrier. Off a free kick, Sandoval got off a left footed shot that went just wide. Mexico subbed out Hugo Camberos and Santiago Sandoval for Nelson Cedillo and Luis Gamboa. Cedillo would get off a left footed shot from way outside the area but it went wide Costa Rica subbed out Gabriel Cibaja for Ethan Barley. Off a cross into the area, Garro got off a header that went just wide. After a bad giveaway from Farrier, Reyes would get the ball in the area but be brought down by Farrier, who got red carded. As the last man, it was a clear red card and now Costa Rica looked doomed with their man advantage gone. Incredibly after going to VAR, the ref would reverse it as a Yellow card only and not even give a free kick in a terrible decision. Off a cross, Navarrete made a bad mistake and failed to get a to a cross but Mexico’s defense was able to clear the ball. A bad clearance allowed Barley got the ball in the area but his left footed shot was brilliantly saved by Navarrete. It was the last chance as Mexico overcame the red card to get the victory that books their ticket to the Quarterfinals.

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Mexico continued on top of Group B after defeating Costa Rica by a 2-0 score. Once again Mexico failed to give a great performance but it was a better performance against a tougher team and after going down to 10 players. Mexico actually gave a better performance after goalkeeper Liceaga got red carded with a terrible play that will have him suspended for the final group stage match. Costa Rica started with a physical game but had no answer when they needed to go on offense and actually conceded an own goal. With space for counter, Mexico looked more dangerous and the better players in the Mexico squad were able to handle Costa Rica. Still Mexico will need to improve especially in the knock out stages. Mexico will close out the group stage by facing Guatemala, who looked a lot better than Costa Rica earlier on against Antigua and Barbuda, although they did lose to Costa Rica in their opener. Costa Rica will close out against Antigua and Barbuda in a match they should be able to win.