By Miguel Rapetti
08 Sep 2024, 00:56 AM EDT
Mexico’s new coach, Javier “Vasco” Aguirre, made a grand debut at the start of his third term in charge of El Tri, scoring a 3-0 win over New Zealand, who, despite trying, were no match for the Americans at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Led by Orbelín Pineda, César Huerta and Luis Romo, Mexico and Aguirre scored the goals that served as proof of their victory for the 2026 World Cup, where they will host the match alongside Canada and the United States, who this Saturday faced off with a 2-1 victory for Jesse Marsch’s team.
The Mexicans took advantage of their rivals’ passivity and from their first arrival on goal, in the 4th minute, they took the lead with Pineda’s goal.
However, they did not stop there as they increased the pressure with shots in the ninth and 16th minutes that posed a threat to Oceania’s goalkeeper, Max Crocombe.
In the second minute of added time in the first half, Romo hit the right post of Crocombe, but it was to be a prelude to what would happen later.
New Zealand continued to pose no threat to Mexico in the second half, and the Americans took advantage of this to try to score their second goal of the match, which came after an unfortunate injury to Julián Quiñones.
After leaving the field, the América player brought Huerta on and he scored on the first play he had, scoring with a right-footed cross shot in the 53rd minute after a pass from Romo.
And it was precisely Romo who ended up sealing Mexico’s rout by scoring in the 57th minute for the final score of 3-0.
In this way, Aguirre starts his time on the bench of El Tri on the right foot and next Tuesday they will have a new challenge against Canada, at the Arlington stadium in Texas.
Watch the match highlights here: