A revamped Mexico began its way to Qatar 2022 with a 2-1 win over Jamaica at the Estadio Azteca.
Henri Martin's 89th-minute winner was enough for El Trai, who took the lead in the 50th through Alexis Vega, while Jamaica equalized 15 minutes later through Shamar Nicholson.
"There is pain in every [qualifying campaign]," said Mexico coach Gerardo Martino. "We took a good step tonight to get our confidence back."
Mexico did so with the added constraint of not fully exploiting the advantages of the domestic sector. Although the sight of an empty stadium has become common during the pandemic, Mexico's hallowed home ground was left without fans due to COVID-19, but punishment for anti-gay chants heard in several matches during Olympic qualifiers In form of. Guadalajara last April.
Not facing the added pressure of fans, the Reggae Boys took the pitch at the Azteca – a stadium where they never won in World Cup qualifying – far from full force, as a dozen of their Europe-based players were held back. . for a COVID travel ban. Mexico, on the other hand, recalled the stars of Ral Jiménez, Hirving Lozano and Johann Vasquez because of the same circumstance. To cope, Martino tasked a young corps to replace their missing stars. El Trai presented a starting lineup of seven players who recently won a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Jiménez's student, Rogelio Funes Mori, nearly broke the game after 25 minutes. Monterrey striker was unable to run a header past Andre Blake when a pitch perfect cross from Jorge Sanchez saw Fayance Mori over the edge of the six-yard box. It was the only notable chance from a tough first 45 minutes.
Despite the amazing performance in Tokyo, many players who came back from the tournament did poorly in their latest challenge.
"In a qualifying campaign, there are no easy games," said goalkeeper Memo Ochoa. "I've gone through some pretty complicated missions, and it won't be any easy. A lot of [Mexican] players got their first tastes tonight and realized you went through a lot."
However, early in the second half, one of Mexico's Olympic heroes answered the call to give El Trai the first lead of the game. Vega took advantage of a blocked shot from inside the Jamaican's box, and the Chivas forward launched a powerful right footed finish to beat Blake 1-0.
The goal appeared to write the rest of the script for the match: forced to attack, the Jamaican created counterattack opportunities for El Trai, who created two big chances in the following minutes. In the 63rd minute, again on a counter, Fues Mori removed Blake from his line before it went to Roberto Alvarado. Cruz Azul's attacker closes his shot from the post despite having an empty net in front of him.
Despite Mexico's lack of finishing, Jamaica converted their only big chance of the game into the equalizer. A long, looping cross into the box from Corey Burke forces Jorge Sanchez to lunge with a header and defend. Contact was weak, and allowed Nicholson to barrel and detonate a goal behind Ochoa.
"We manage long games well and create goal chances, but we are not clinical," lamented Martino. "Sometimes you suffer misfortune and you have conditions like the Jamaican goal."
Forced to go on the offensive once again, Martino flips Vega in favor of second striker and fellow Olympic vet Henri Martin. With less than two minutes to go from injury time, and the 2013 story seemed to be repeating itself, Martin pulled off a diving blake to give Mexico the win. In keeping with one of the main stories of the night, the only players representing El Tri at the Olympics made and ended the game winning the game: Cesar Montes launched a forward pass that was clipped by Luis Romo. The change in direction was enough to allow Martin to run to the ball and score from almost the same position as Vega had done in the first half.
"I am happy to contribute, score and help the team get three points," said Martin. "When I saw the ball [come my way], I thought kick it toward the goal."
Following the win, Mexico will hit the road for two straight games to round out their first batch of qualifiers. Adding to their list of missing players, El Trio will face both of their remaining matchups without Martino himself, who will undergo surgery to repair a detached retina. Jamaica - the only team to lose on the day of the first match - will play Panama at home on Sunday before traveling to Costa Rica on Wednesday.