Mexico bid adieu to a roller coaster 2010 by playing what can only be described as a charity match in violence-torn Ciudad Juárez against a Venezuela team that are putting the rest of South America on notice with their rapid development. Two Juan Arango goals from set pieces provided all of the Vinotinto's offense, while Manchester United's Javier Hernández and Tottenham's Giovani dos Santos bagged one each for their country in order to avoid the home loss. Pitch invasion, "Maza" Rodriguez's red card and post-match drama were also notable lowlights.
Interim Tri boss Efrain Flores' hopes of keeping the Mexico national team managerial job were nearly non-existent going into tonight's match against Venezuela - after another lackluster performance from his boys, those hopes have now been completely shattered.
Despite fielding arguably their best eleven at the start of the match (minus Andrés Guardado, nursing an injury, replaced by newcomer Iván Estrada at the left fullback position) and playing on home soil, in front of a crowd that was completely supporting them, the Mexican national team failed to impress once again, drawing 2-2 against Venezuela.
The South Americans struck first, as former Mexican league star Juan Arango struck a free kick home in the sixth minute, and set the tone for a first half that was nearly dominated from start to finish by Cesar Farias' pupils.
Venezuela took hold of the ball early and often, and were close to opening up the match with a couple of opportunities from Arango and Alejandro Moreno. Such chances ultimately went awry or were parried away by Guillermo Ochoa, the oft-maligned América goalkeeper who was already in the doghouse earlier this year, when a couple of bad outings in pre-World Cup friendlies cost him his job.
A curious curse of sorts took hold of the left side of the pitch on the Mexican side, as regular left winger Andrés Guardado succumbed to an injury during practice on Monday, and newcomer Iván Estrada vacated the left fullback position due to injury in the 25th minute, due to a Gabriel Cichero foul which left Venezuela with ten men.
Estrada's replacement was Morelia winger Elías Hernández, who promptly took the first ball he touched and deposited squarely on Javier Hernández's left foot. The striker commonly known as "Chicharito" then struck the ball past Daniel Hernández and brought the score level at one a piece.
Déjá vú took hold of the crowd at the Estadio Benito Juárez six minutes after the Mexican goal, as Venezuela were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position just outside the home team's box.
Juan Arango lined the ball up, hit it well and pierced Ochoa's net a second time, giving the Venezuelans a lead they would hold into halftime.
For the second half, Cruz Azul keeper Jesús Corona was subbed in for Ochoa, and Jonny Magallón as well as Enrique Esqueda were given nods to replace starters Antonio Ríos and Javier Orozco.
The match trudged on, and Venezuela looked to play on Mexican desperation, planning counter-attacks via César González and Angel Chourio.
Giovani dos Santos broke the monotonous chess match in the 61st minute with an utter stroke of genius, as he maneuvered within the Vinotinto back line and promptly placed his left-footed shot right in the top right corner of Hernández's goal.
2-2, disaster avoided.
Mexico seemed to be still displeased with the scoreline and attempted to break through with dos Santos, Chicharito, and the occasional Carlos Salcido run, but such efforts were to no avail.
With only a few minutes remaining, a tense moment took place as several spectators engaged in pitch invasion and were promptly taken down by the hordes of police providing protection.
Ciudad Juárez has been hammered by violence for years now, and Venezuela manager César Farías appeared to be well-versed in the troubles afflicting the city, as he nearly took his team into the visiting locker room.
Order was restored, "Maza" Rodriguez would be sent off for a second yellow with only a few minutes left and the match ended with both teams at two goals.
The real headline took place a few minutes later, as 11 players implicated by the federation as rule breakers stemming from a controversial party in Monterrey a few weeks ago read a letter washing their hands of any responsibility in the ousting of former National Team bigwig Nestor de la Torre.
It is unclear how such a move affects Nestor's brother Jose, who is currently Toluca's manager and is vying for the vacant managerial seat for El Tri.
