Things We Learned From England vs. Mexico

Mexico needs to learn how to make use of their superior possession: Mexico had 66% possession, England 34%, and England still scored two more goals than we did. How is this possible; through luck? No. England is strong on set pieces and the first two were scored through them, and their third was a freak goal that had little chance of being stopped unless someone had blocked it. Having superior possession helps but it must be complemented with a good attack and the ability to finish, and now that I mention it…

Our finishing needs work: No sh*t, right? Carlos Vela, the king of the chip shots, had one of the most perfect one-on-one opportunities in the first half that screamed “chip shot”. Instead he just blasted it at the keeper with his weaker foot. Many chances were missed, especially in the first half, and our strikers need to keep their cool if they want to find the net.

Our players are in good form: Sorry to keep on mentioning the first half, but individually, our players did very well during it. Giovani is as fast as ever, Guille has a shred of finishing ability and can punk defenders like he did Ledley King on one play, and the defenders were solid in everything except the conceding three goals part. Rafa looked calm and wasn’t the cause for any of the goals like he had been doing recently. Salcido did very well moving forward and even hit the crossbar on one play. And Maza…

Daaaaaaaamn. Just WOW. What a performance by Maza. Saved our ass on about five crucial plays, and if he isn’t a starter in South Africa, it is the apocalypse. Great tackles and lots of confidence. We’re lucky to have Maza. Let’s just hope he keeps it up because we will be facing teams that pressure our back line much more than England did today. However, England still scored three against us so it makes little sense to consider Maza as the messiah. Let’s just say he did good (not a god yet) and wait to see how he keeps on doing. He also should have jumped so that Crouch didn’t head the ball and assist England’s first goal. He is the only guy on the team that can jump as high as Crouchy.

The World Cup 2010 tickets of all matches are now available for sale. Football tickets of all the matches of World Cup are for sale at ticket4football.com, also you can buy the Mexico World Cup Tickets for its upcoming matches and World Cup Football tickets of other teams on this website.

Fans of Mexico's World Cup team are cautiously optimistic

That hasn't dimmed the faith of Mexico's fans, though, in the team or in Guadalupe. Whether that faith will be rewarded this summer, however, is a subject of fierce debate.

On Sunday, Mexico's national team said goodbye to its faithful with a 1-0 win over a sloppy Chilean team in front of a raucous sellout crowd at Azteca. Alberto Medina's goal 14 minutes into the game was all Mexico needed for its third consecutive 1-0 win, running its unbeaten streak to 10 games dating to September.

The team leaves Tuesday for two weeks of training in Europe before heading to South Africa, where it opens play in the World Cup on June 11.

And it's going there with higher expectations than perhaps any Mexican team in recent memory. A public opinion poll published last weekend shows a slim majority of Mexicans believe the team will reach the tournament's quarterfinals, something it has done only twice. The team has promised at least that much.

"Do something distinct," Coach Javier Aguirre said. "That's the idea."

Not everyone thinks Aguirre has more than a prayer of making that happen.

The polls, says Raziel Sanchez, a hardcore but jaded Mexican soccer fan, reflect what people believe with their hearts but not with their brains.

"Is it not a question of faith to believe that Mexico can do better than it's ever done?" said Sanchez, a financial advisor. "Preparing the same way as they have for the last 20 years, it's very probable we're going to get the same results."

Two days before Mexico's farewell game, Sanchez and three like-minded friends met at a rooftop restaurant near Mexico City's trendy Zona Rosa district to talk about the national team's World Cup chances. They're hopeful, they agreed, but not optimistic. Supportive, but not irrational.

The World Cup 2010 tickets of all matches are now available for sale. Football tickets of all the matches of World Cup are for sale at ticket4football.com, You can buy your favourite FA Cup Final tickets online through our secure and guaranteed online booking system. you can buy the Mexico World Cup Tickets for its upcoming matches and World Cup Football tickets of other teams on this website.

Mexico's soccer team prevails in front of 90,000-plus at Rose Bowl

PASADENA - All of Mexico is abuzz over Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, the heretofore unknown striker who has been tearing it up for Club Deportivo Guadalajara the past month or so. Hernandez quickly has become one of Javier Aguirre's must-haves for this summer's World Cup in South Africa, and he showed why Wednesday night at the Rose Bowl.

In front of a rabid crowd of 90,526, Hernandez nodded Mexico past New Zealand by scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 triumph, his third in eight days for El Tricolores.

Carlos Vela added another 10 minutes later as Mexico put together another dominating performance for its U.S. fans in the second stop on its six-game, north-of-the-border tour to prepare for the real games come June.

Hernandez, 21, debuted for Mexico's national team last September in Dallas and assisted on a goal in a 2-1 victory over Colombia.

The World Cup 2010 tickets of all matches are now available for sale. Football tickets of all the matches of World Cup are for sale at ticket4football.com, You can buy your favourite FA Cup Final tickets online through our secure and guaranteed online booking system. you can buy the Mexico World Cup Tickets for its upcoming matches and World Cup Football tickets of other teams on this website.

Mexicans in Europe 4/24-25/2010

Rafa and Osorio get starts, Guille gets action, and Guardado is back in Mexico training with la seleccion.