Soccer News: England Wins Over Mexico

England's soccer ace players left coach Fabio Capello frustrated at their lack of aggression in an unconvincing 3-1 victory over Mexico on Monday. While defenders Ledley King and Glen Johnson scored and Peter Crouch had a contentious goal, problems on defence made it an uncomfortable night for England at Wembley Stadium.

England, which opens its World Cup campaign against the United States on June 12, relied on goalkeeper Robert Green and a tactical change at halftime to beat its fellow World Cup qualifier.

“The manager wanted more aggression from the whole team,” England midfielder Steven Gerrard said. “They had too much possession in the first half, we stood off them and let them play. In the second half we got in their faces and stopped them playing. We need to be more aggressive.”

Returning after a three-year international absence, King headed in England's opener in the 17th minute after Crouch's setup across the net.

And Crouch, King's Tottenham teammate, managed to score a second — with the help of his arm — in the 34th from a rebound after goalkeeper Oscar Perez touched Wayne Rooney's header onto the crossbar.

England, though, was being outplayed, with Green twice denying Mexico's Arsenal forward Carlos Vela, while Carlos Salcido hit the goal post.

Guillermo Franco claimed a goal for the visitors seconds before halftime when left back Leighton Baines cleared Rafael Marquez's header at the far post straight to the forward, who scored from close range.

“Mexico are technically very good — they are faster than us and it was not easy getting the ball back,” Fabio Capello said. “Not all the teams we play against will be like this, but it is very important to press the ball and win it back quickly.”

Fabio Capello made several changes at halftime with Green, captain Rio Ferdinand, who partnered King in central defense, and Crouch replaced by Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart, Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher and Tottenham forward Jermain Defoe.
 

James Milner, who had been ineffective in central midfield with Michael Carrick, was shifted out to the left, with Gerrard moving into the middle.

“We need to be able to adapt to different formations during a game and also for different opposition,” Steven Gerrard said.

And two minutes into the second half, Johnson restored England's two-goal cushion with a curling shot from 20 yards and the home side looked more comfortable.

“We can play better than we did tonight. There's still time to sharpen up,” Steven Gerrard said.

There was one late scare for Fabio Capello, with striker Rooney indicating he wanted to come off in the closing minutes.

“He said he had a small problem in his neck, but it is not a problem,” Capello said. “Rooney is OK. At this moment he just needs to play and find his form.”

The four Chelsea players — John Terry, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Ashley Cole — and Portsmouth goalkeeper David James, who played in last weekend's FA Cup final, were rested. Capello will assess them in Sunday's final friendly against Japan in Austria before the 30-man squad is trimmed to 23 by the June 1 FIFA deadline.

Ledley King will be allowed to rest his knees on Sunday. The Spurs captain, never featured before in Capello's 30-month reign, looks to have ensured his place in the squad after finally making his 20th England appearance.

“It wasn't one of my best games, but it was tough out there,” King said. “The knee is getting better; the more I play the better I get.”

Despite the scoreline and being frustrated at how the goals were conceded, Mexico coach Javier Aguirre saw some encouraging signs before his side faces host South Africa in the World Cup opener June 11.

“We need to keep our style and we want to try the same thing again on the 11th of June,” said Aguirre, who needs to trim just one player from his squad. “We need to convert our chances more and not concede so early and that will take us to our next level.”

Mexico is in soccer action again on Wednesday against the Netherlands and takes on Gambia on Sunday.

Alberto Medina's goal gives El Tri victory over Senegal

Soccer superstar Alberto Medina has at least one souvenir from his trip to the United States. Medina scored four minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute Monday night, lifting Mexico to a 1-0 victory over Senegal and easing — for a few minutes, at least — concerns over El Tri's ability to finish. But the score should have been far more lopsided as Mexico squandered opportunities for at least four more goals, including shots by former Chicago Fire star Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez from within 5 yards.

Senegal, which failed to qualify for the first World Cup in Africa, had a few shots on goal but never really threatened. Drawn into Group A with host South Africa, France and Uruguay, Mexico is expected to get out of the first round. But its sloppiness in its first two games of its three-city U.S. tour is sure to concern coach Javier Aguirre.

Mexico looked a bit sharper than it did in Friday's sloppy 0-0 draw against Ecuador. But it still struggled to finish, squandering chances for at least three additional goals and looking out of sync defensively against a team that didn't qualify for next month's World Cup and seemed to have little interest in offense.

The addition of Medina and Blanco in the 56th minute immediately energized El Tri — and not just because of the loud cheers and whistles in honor of Blanco's homecoming. In the 60th minute, Andres Guardado, also a second-half substitute, sent a long pass upfield that was clearly going to outpace Medina. Senegal goalkeeper Khadim Ndiaye came out to collect the ball but bobbled it and Medina, who'd never slowed down, collected the rebound. With Ndiaye on the ground and no one else close to the goal, Medina buried his shot into the far corner of the net, setting off raucous cheers from the sellout crowd of 60,610.

Hernandez, set to join Manchester United next season, had a chance to double the score a few minutes later, but duffed a wide-open pass from less than 5 yards out. Blanco had a point-blank shot in the 89th minute, but it sailed right into Ndiaye's arms. But Mexico head coach Javier Aguirre had reason to be a bit unsatisfied with the performance. El Tri had a bunch of scoring opportunities, and Medina particularly had several other chances. The one-goal win did the trick, but Mexico clearly could have done more.

"We missed a few [opportunities] in the last third of the field," Aguirre said. "We need to look at connecting short passes. In the great leagues you only have one opportunity and you need to score it."

For two-thirds of the soccer  match, Senegal goalkeeper Khadim Ndiaye did his best to keep his squad in contention. He was efficient coming off of his line to intercept a bunch of threats and had some key saves to try to silence Mexico's attack. In the 60th minute, Ndiaye nearly replicated his previous efforts when he disrupted Andres Guardado's deep send for Medina. But in this instance the ball popped out a bit from his gloves, and Medina found the far left netting for the 1-0 Mexico lead.

Just a few minutes before that play, former Chicago Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco made what nearly proved to be a picture-perfect entrance. Blanco did not get the start, but to the pleasure of the Mexican faithful in Soldier Field, he came off the bench for a shade more than half an hour. Blanco and Medina came into the match in the 56th minute for Adolfo Bautista and Pablo Barrera, respectively. Less than 1 minute later, Blanco provided a crisp send to Medina. But Ndiaye came up with the clutch save to keep Mexico off the scoreboard.

Little did Ndiaye know that Mexico would amp up its attack and tally the first strike a few minutes later. Mexico wholeheartedly attacked from their right side, clearly the weaker portion of the pitch from Senegal's standpoint. But Senegal managed to hold things close for a bulk of the match.

"The goal here was to challenge Mexico and help Mexico prepare for the World Cup, and I felt that the boys stood up to Mexico and gave them a good challenge," Senegal head coach Joseph Marie Koto said. "Overall, I'm satisfied with the game."

In the net, Ndiaye made seven saves. Mexico goalkeeper Oscar Perez, on the other hand, only had to make three saves. Mexico now plays Angola on Thursday in Houston before heading home to host Chile, a fellow World Cup qualifier, at Azteca Stadium. El Tri then goes to Europe for friendlies against England, the Netherlands and Italy before opening against host South Africa on June 11.

Road To South Africa 2010: The Americas

CONCACAF

The Qualification include teams from North and Central America along with the Caribbean. 3 teams have already qualified from this region. Mexico, U.S.A and surprisingly Honduras sending Costa Rica to a play off versus Uruguay.

Honduras qualified dramatically as they beat El Salvador away from home 0-1 in a very tight affair. Their game ended early and they had to wait on the result of U.S.A and Costa Rica. U.S.A were assured of qualification and Costa Rica needed a win to qualify automatically and were well on their way with a 2-1 lead against the U.S. However, an injury time equalizer sent them to the play-offs. Wild celebrations erupted in Honduras who reach their first World Cup since Spain 1982 thanks to the efforts of such stars as David Suazo, Wilson Palacios, Figueroa and top scorer Carlos Pavon.

SOUTH AMERICA

Brazil as expected dominated proceedings and qualified with 2 games to spare. Chile and Paraguay followed and a final day win for Maradona's Argentina against Uruguay sent them through and pushed Uruguay for a play-0ff match as Ecuador failed to beat Chile.

Play-Off:

Uruguay face off against Costa Rica in a two-legged playoff for the final qualification spot in the Americas. Uruguay have been there before and although will be disappointed to have to go through this again they have enough quality to do so. From Napoli's Walter Gragano to Villarreal's prolific Striker Diego Forlan it seems the odds are in their favour. Costa Rica too have an abundance of players playing in Europe but in my opinion lack the caliber that is ever present through out the Uruguay squad. If experienced coach Oscar Tabarez can get his team to perform up to their potential, Costa Rica will face an uphill task.

Manga's Prediction: Uruguay to South Africa