The match started off, almost immediately, with a defensive mistake by the Brazilian defense that allowed Oribe Peralta to get the ball, and shoot it from just outside the box. The result was a fantastic goal and a 1-0 Mexico lead in the first minute of play.
For the rest of the first half, Mexico played a full-pressure style of soccer, taking advantage of the Brazilian central defenders’ inability to handle the ball efficiently. This led to Brazil really being unable to create any dangerous plays on offense; the Mexican pressure up the field was too much, and did not allow for the development of Brazilian attacks.
The first 30 minutes of the second half was a different story. Apparently Brazil found its skill and was able to gain possession and generate a couple of dangerous plays on the attack. However, a dubious foul call in the 74th minute led to an Oribe Peralta header that resulted in his second goal of the match and a 2-0 lead for Mexico.
All the way up to the 90th minute, the Mexican defense played perfectly, essentially negating all Brazilian attacks. However, once that 90th minute marker hit, the Mexicans seemed to think the match was over. Hulk received a long running pass inside the box, and put the ball past Corona to make it 2-1. In the 92nd minute, with just seconds left in the match, Oscar found himself completely alone inside the box with a chance to tie the match with a header: he barely missed and sealed Brazil’s defeat.
Mexico gets its first ever soccer Olympic medal, and claims what might be Mexico’s only gold medal during the London Olympics. Even though the final score was 2-1, Brazil never really looked like it deserved the gold medal; Mexico was fantastic on defense, and scored with the few chances it had (Marco Fabian missed two clear goals as well). Mexico’s U-23, U-20 and U-17 squads have been fantastic these past years, can Mexico translate it into a good run in the 2014 World Cup? Only time will tell.
Enjoy the Mexico vs Brazil goals and highlights:
[dailymotion xsr6n3]
