Canada 2-2 Mexico: 2010 Senior World Cup

Late Eldridge equaliser against Mexico sends Canada into the last sixteen and books a match-up against Portugal.
The first chance came after less than a minute when Shad Marcus set up Perry Ferreira, whose low shot sizzled wide. Canada dominated possession in the opening fifteen minutes, and created a couple chances too. Shad Marcus' long-range shot was saved by Romeo Domenec, and the Mexican keeper had to stop Ferreira on a breakaway not long after. When Ferreira and Leslie Love each wasted chances, it was becoming clear Mexico desperately needed to get a foothold into the game. But still Canada were dominating, and Ferreira again saw his close-range shot saved by Domenec. It was out of nowhere that the deadlock was broken. Maximino Ciano was tackled inside the penalty box by Frankie Gonzalez, but as he moved the ball up field, he gave it away to Aquiles Oro a few yards out of his penalty area, and the Mexican striker sent a low shot into the back of the net. It was the first real chance Mexico had gotten in the game, and they'd made it count. Abel Bryan tried to get Canada instantly back in the match, but his effort resulted in another goal kick for Mexico. The first goal had given the Central Americans confidence, and Raimundo Muc came close to making it two, but Angel Vang stopped him from close-range. Muc then appeared to be heading on a breakaway until Cyrille McCullough stopped him just outside the penalty box, which resulted in a yellow card. The resulting free kick from Clodoveo Merexildo was a good one, and his shot just barely missed the net. It was Canada now who were struggling, but they nearly equalised when Marcus hit the woodwork from a long way outside the penalty area. Mexico tried to counter-attack, but they gave the ball away to Love, who passed to Bryan. The striker set up Ferreira, who was rushing into the 18-yard box, and he finally converted one of his chances. It was now 1-1. Bryan could have put them in the lead before half-time, but again Domenec shut the door after a good passing play by Canada. Though Mexico were second-best throughout most of the first half, it was 1-1 at the break.
The sombreros started off better in the second half, with Maximino Ciano firing just over and Muc's shot being pushed away by Vang. Ferreira was again robbed of a goal from close-range when Domenec stopped him, and as Mexico got the ball back into Canada's end, Muc passed into the danger area for Ciano, who took a few touches before placing the ball past Vang to give Mexico the lead again. They continued to press, with Ernesto Brais' free kick failing to hit the target and Muc then hitting the post. Canada seemed to get a boost when Abel Bryan, who was disappointing considering his performance on his debut against Finland, was subbed off for Carlos Eldridge. In fact, Eldridge's first touch was a shot that shook the crossbar, and the ball ended up falling to Blake Thornton, whose effort was easily caught by Domenec. Muc sent a shot wide for Mexico as Canada were desperately looking to tie the game, but looked nothing like what they did in the first half. Eldridge had two more chances - one was a close-range effort saved and gathered by Domenec, the other was a shot that went harmlessly wide - but Mexico could have put the game away when Muc went through on breakaway only for Vang to stop him. The eqauliser Canada were so desperately looking for came when Sal Covington put Eldridge through alone with the keeper, and, this time, Domenec could do nothing about it. 2-2 was the score and Canada seemed to be heading back into the round of 16, while Mexico were likely heading out. Mexico pressed hard in the last couple minutes, but could not get past a solid Canuck back three and we held on for the 2-2 draw. Canada are into the round of 16!
A loss here would have been harsh. After all, the second half may have been close, but the first half was completely dominated by Canada. There aren't many countries we like to beat more than Mexico, mostly because we have to share the division cup with them, so there's a bit of disappointment we didn't get the full three points, but the fact that we've made it through is all that counts.
The two most popular formations on MZ were used in this game. Canada went with a 3-2-1-2-2. The usual McCullough/Howell/Burnham partnership at the back remained intact, with Covington being paired with Gonzalez (who started despite Burt Hatch returning from suspension) in defensive midfield, Thoronton playing in the middle, Love and Marcus on the wings, and Ferreira and Bryan starting as strikers. Mexico had a 4-2-1-3, with advanced fullbacks and the centre forward playing behind the other two.
The man of the match here is tough, as everyone had a decent game. Vang and Gonzalez were the least impressive, while the attacking midfield trio of Thornton, Love, and Marcus was very strong. I'll go with Eldridge because of his crucial equaliser and for the overall way he played when he came on. For Mexico, Domenec was probably their best player.
Portugal are a really strong side and one of the biggest forces on MZ, so I don't expect we'll have it easy against them in the round of 16, but I also believe we've got every chance of winning. If we do just that, we'll play a quarter-final game against either a strong Danish side or an Austrian outfit that finished second last year. It should be a good close game, and hopefully we'll come out on top in the end. We ended up winning our group. Croatia drew Finland, which means Mexico actually made it through with us into the round of 16, where they will play Poland.
Besides McCullough's yellow which was already mentioned here, Covington also found himself in the referee's notebook. They join Ferreira and Eldridge with one yellow card each.