Mexico entered Wembley on Monday with a squad strengthened by their European-based players, and dominated possession of the ball. But host England relied on their bigger physical presence in the box to manage a 3-1 victory in a pre-World Cup friendly.
El Tri came out of the gates showing great ground passing and working the flanks. Giovani dos Santos, in particular, gave the England defense a fit with his speed and mobility.
England, on the other hand, were able to keep their defensive shape, turning away most of Mexico’s attacks before El Tri could get into England’s final quarter of the pitch.
In the 10th minute, Mexico found themselves with a scoring opportunity when a low ball from Ricardo Osorio cruised across the England six-yard box, asking in vain for a foot to send it to the back of England’s net.
Only minutes later, however, England, who played without some their key starters, proved they remain one of the world’s best set-piece converters. In the 17th minute, Steven Gerrard sent a deep corner into Mexico’s box. Peter Crouch got to it first and headed a pass to defender Ledley King, who then put the ball away for the first goal of the match.
With the one-goal lead, England sat back and defended as Mexico kept passing the ball and working the flanks.
Giovani again showed how dangerous he can be when wearing his national team’s kit when, in the 29th minute, he made a speedy break-away run into England territory, dumping off a pass to Carlos Vela for a one-on-one against England keeper Robert Green. But Vela's shot was saved by the England keeper, who put in a performance worthy of the No. 1 jersey.
Only two minutes later, Mexico knocked on England’s door as Carlos Salcido smashed a right-footed curler from the edge to the box and off Green’s far post.
But just when it seemed Mexico’s first of the game would come, England struck again by way of another Gerrard cross. Wayne Rooney found himself wide open and struck a header from a 10 yards away that hit the horizontal bar. Crouch – though his onside position was in doubt – used his height to get to the floating ball to give England a two-goal lead.
Determined to gain back some of the lost ground, Vela once again found himself with just the keeper to beat, only to be denied by Green once more.
Mexico finally got their lone goal three minutes into first-half stoppage time, scoring from a set piece of their own. Guillermo Franco poked in the rebound from a badly cleared ball at the edge of the six-yard box after Rafael Márquez’s blocked header.
England restored their two-goal cushion just after the restart, when right back Glen Johnson cut in from the right flank and unleashed a left-footed screamer that went past Mexico’s Óscar Pérez.
Fabio Capello's team now travels to Graz, Austria, for its final warmup match on May 30 against Japan before its World Cup opener against the US in Rustenburg.
Mexico, meanwhile, make a two-game swing through Germany to face the Netherlands and Gambia on May 26 and 30, respectively, before their final warmup against Italy in Brussels, Belgium, on June 3. El Tri open the World Cup against host South Africa in Johannesburg on June 11.
Scoring summary:
King (ENG) – 17’
Crouch (ENG) – 35’
Johnson (ENG) – 47’
Franco (MEX) – 45’ + 3’
Discipline summary:
Barrera (MEX) – yellow, 66’
G. dos Santos (MEX) – yellow, 67’
RodrÃguez (MEX) – yellow, 89’
Lineups:
Mexico: Óscar Pérez; Carlos Salcido, Francisco RodrÃguez, Ricardo Osorio, Paul Aguilar (Pablo Barrera – 51’); Giovani dos Santos (Cuauhtémco Blanco – 72’), Gerardo Torrado, Rafael Márquez, EfraÃn Juárez; Carlos Vela (Andrés Guardado – 62’), Guillermo Franco (Javier Hernández - ).
England: Robert Green (Joe Hart – 46’); Ledley King, Leighton Baines, Rio Ferdinand (Jamie Carragher – 46’), Glen Johnson; Steven Gerrard, James Milner (Adam Johnson – 86’), Michael Carrick (Tom Huddlestone – 62’), Theo Walcott (Aaron Lennon – 76’); Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch (Jermaine Defoe – 46’).
