Photo via ESPN.com
Mexico and Italy were looking to get their 2013 Confederations Cup campaign on the right foot and keep pace with Brazil in the high-profile Father’s Day match up. Both teams came out with a lot of energy as they looked to press the action, but the Italians were able to control possession for most of the opening minutes.
Coring kicked off in the 27th minute after Italy’s Andrea Pirlo was able to hit a beautiful strike right in to the corner of the net off of a set piece. El Tri goalie José de Jesús Corona had guessed right, but the kick was masterfully placed and there was no chance of getting a hand on it.
The match began to get more physical as time went on, which eventually led to a tackle by Italy inside of the box that gave Mexico the free kick.
It was just seven minutes after Pirlo’s goal that Mexico had a chance to tie it up.
Giovanni dos Santos was the player fouled, but it was Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez who took the free kick. Chicharito lined up for the penalty shot and approached the ball with his smooth stride. Italy’s goalie Gianluigi Buffon had no shot at getting the stop after he guessed the wrong way and was in the back of the net along with Chicharito’s shot. It was Chicharito’s 33rd goal for Mexico, which tied him for No. 4 all-time.
The two sides held on until the half and entered the break with a 1-1 tie. Both sides came out in the second half keeping their aggression and continuing the physical play. While the playesr were getting frustrated, the referees were doing an admirable job and handling the physicality and allowing the play to go on.
Mexico and Italy remained knotted up into the late minutes before Italy was able to break through and get a goal from Mario Balotelli following a complete breakdown in the center of the Mexican defense. During his celebration, Balotelli was booked for removing his shirt and received a yellow card.
The goal gave Italy a 2-1 lead.
Balotelli’s goal set Italy up perfectly to earn the win and points.
El Tri did turn up the pressure for the final ten minutes as they looked to escape with a draw, but Italy was content to control the ball and enjoy their lead with time running out.
Despite a game effort from the Mexicans, Italy was able to hang on and start off their tournament with a win. For Mexico, they will need to go back to the drawing board and attempt to figure out why their offense has been struggling in the past few outings.