Yet another Mexico Round of 16 elimination has us wondering why El Tri can't ever make it to the quarterfinals. It seems like Mexico is actually facing a curse when it comes to getting past the Round of 16 at the World Cup. But why is it that El Tri is simply unable to surpass the first knockout stage and make its way to the much desired Quinto Partido?
Mexico’s 2-0 elimination from the 2018 World Cup at the hands of Brazil will live long in the memory. Stunning victories over Germany and South Korea, coupled with a miraculous qualification to the Round of 16 despite that huge letdown against Sweden, had served to enhance the El Tri narrative to a fever pitch ahead of the match at Samara Arena.
The opening 20 minutes of Mexico versus Brazil couldn’t have gone any better from an El Tri perspective. Carlos Vela and Andres Guardado were finding joy on the left with Fagner looking set for a nightmare. Chucky looked dangerous. But more importantly, Philippe Coutinho and Neymar hardly got a sniff of the ball with Rafa Marquez, Edson Alvarez and Hugo Ayala all taking turns putting the Brazilians on their backs.
Miguel Layún came on at halftime for Mexico and immediately set about making life difficult for Neymar. After a handful of physical challenges between the two, the El Tri defender stepped on the Brazilian No. 10 on the sidelines. Should red have been shown for the Layun stomp on Neymar? Or did the latter deserve red for flopping around like a dead fish?
Who is Chucky Lozano? Mexico’s Hirving "Chucky" Lozano is, like France’s Kyllian Mbappé, one of this World Cup’s rising stars.
But where did he come from and where is he headed?
Hirving Lozano came out of Club Pachuca’s football academy. The institution has been a cradle for young Mexican talent, forging the likes of Héctor Herrera, Jürgen Damm, Rodolfo Pizarro and Erick Gutiérrez.
If you thought watching Javier Mascherano hurry and hassle France’s trio of Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante was a fascinating but doomed exercise pitting a warrior of yesteryear against the game’s brightest talents, boy, do we have another cracker for you: it’s 39-year-old RAFA MARQUEZ shielding Mexico’s back four against Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho. Let’s get it on!
Can Mexico reach the quinto partido? They will have to beat a staked Brazil team to get there but this World Cup has shown that anything is possible. Beligum will try to keep their hot form against Japan.
For all the love players like Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo receive, for all the fans of Brazil, Germany and France, there is nothing like an underdog succeeding on the world’s biggest stage. As proof, we present to you the biggest World Cup upsets in 2018.
The appeal of the World Cup comes in a variety of flavors. There’s the excitement of watching the world’s best players go head-to-head as they compete for ultimate glory. But there’s also the joy of seeing teams from smaller, non-traditional footballing nations going up against the tournament favorites.