MEXICO: A surprise was the defeat suffered by the defending champions, Germany in the hands of the ruthless Mexicans who thrashed the 2014 champions’ by 1-0.
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Lozano has been all over the Germany defence in the opening half hour and he’s finally got his reward.
Hernandez leads the charge and feeds the PSV ace on the left, who cuts inside and fires into the bottom left-hand corner.
Kroos fires the free-kick at goal and forces a stunning save from Ochoa, who gets a fingertip onto the ball to tip the attempt up against the bar.
Mexico hit on the counter again with two players charging through on goal, exposing the space left by Plattenhardt. Hernandez attempts to cut the ball across to Vela but he fails to get the ball under control.
Kimmich latches onto Boateng’s cross and tries an acrobatic overhead kick, which loops over the head of Ochoa and lands on the roof of the net.
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Germany starting to find room as a cross floats over Salcedo and into the path of Draxler, who sees a shot deflected behind. From the resulting corner, Werner volleys over the bar.
Hernandez is found by a searching through ball and the West Ham man has the goal at his mercy. He comes under pressure from Hummels, falling to ground but he was certainly looking at it.
Germany’s defence of their World Cup title started with a whimper as they suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat to Mexico in Moscow on Sunday.
Joachim Low’s side came into the tournament on a run of poor form, winning just one of their six friendlies since qualifying for Russia 2018 with a 100 per cent record.
Those recent struggles were evident from the outset against a vibrant Mexico, who scarcely gave their more illustrious opponents a chance to settle during a pulsating opening.
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Their positive approach was rewarded with the only goal of the game after 35 minutes when Hirving Lozano finished off a flowing counter-attacking move with a crisp drive.
Joshua Kimmich and Timo Werner both came close in the second period, but Mexico were able to hold on for a famous victory with something approaching relative comfort.
Low must quickly lift his team for their next Group F game against Sweden on Saturday, while Mexico know a win against South Korea on the same day would give them a wonderful chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.
Line-ups
Germany XI: 1 Neuer (C); 2 Plattenhardt, 5 Hummels, 17 Boateng, 18 Kimmich; 6 Khedira, 8 Kroos; 7 Draxler, 10 Ozil, 13 Muller; 9 Werner
Subs: 12 Trapp, 22 Ter Stegen, 3 Hector, 4 Ginter, 11 Reus, 14 Goretzka, 15 Sule, 16 Rudiger, 19 Rudy, 20 Brandt, 21 Gundogan, 23 Gomez
Mexico XI: 13 Ochoa; 3 Salcedo, 2 Ayala, 15 Moreno, 23 Gallardo; 7 Layun, 16 Herrera, 11 Vela, 18 Guardado (C), 22 Lozano; 14 Hernandez
Subs: 1 Jose Corona, 12 Talavera, 4 Marquez, 5 Gutierrez, 6 J. Dos Santos, 8 Fabian, 9 Raul, 10 G. Dos Santos, 17 Jesus Corona, 19 Peralta, 20 Aquino, 21 Alvarez
LATEST RESULTS:
Russia 5 Saudi Arabian 0
Argentina 1 Iceland 1
Peru 0 Denmark 1
Croatia 2 Nigeria 0
Costa Rica 0 Serbia 2
Germany 0 Mexico 1
Brazil 1 Switzerland 1
www.sojworld.com © June 17, 2018
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