And that leads in to the game. Belizeans across the country –
and across the world were locked in to Televisa at 2:30 pm local time to see
the match. Some hoped for a miracle, others prayed for anything other than a
humiliation. We got a mix of both. Here’s a brief re-cap of a game dominated
by Belize’s defence and Mexico’s offensive futility.
Keith Swift Reporting,
The national football selection defended the red and blue with physicality and
defensive tenacity. But Mexico completely dominated possession. The midfield
defence was soft, creating the opportunity for many shots on goal, but keeper
Shane Orio had a world class performance.
Belize had few offensive opportunities like this one in the 7th minute. But
the story was defence and at the half – it was nil – nil. And 4 
minutes into the second – Belize’s Victor Morales was injured.
He limped off and Belize continued to struggled with its possessions - leaving
openings like this. And it was in the 66th minute that Mexico’s Carlos
Vela scored a goal following a set kick after a hand ball.
Celebration in the stands but the game continued on at a grinding defensive
pace. In stoppage time Jared Borgetti scored on this penalty kick. Saving face
somewhat for the Mexicans and breaking the hearts of Belizeans who had hoped
for a more respectable one nil finish.
A few points, first Mexico didn’t get any scores out of its offence:
the first was off a set kick, and the second was off a penalty kick in stoppage
time. Mexico’s surprising offensive futility has been the subject of many
articles about the game that we came across on the internet. The exact number
of fans who attended was 51,105. For context we note that in other World Cup
qualifiers played yesterday. The USA shelled Barbados 8 to nil, while Canada
beat St. Vincent 3 to nil.
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