Mexico rescues a tie when visiting Panama and consolidates leadership in the Concacaf tie

(Reuters) – The Mexican soccer team rescued a 1-1 draw on Wednesday during its visit to Panama and consolidated itself as the leader of the Concacaf tie for the 2022 World Cup.

El “Tri”, who in the first two days beat Jamaica and Costa Rica, reached seven points to stay in first place in the tie, followed by Canada, the United States and Panama with five units each.

“From nine points, seven were taken. The plan for Mexico is to win all the games, but sometimes you can’t, the rival also counts,” said Argentine Jorge Theiler, Gerardo Martino’s technical assistant.

“Mexico had a good second half and we could have won the game,” he added.

In the match, which was played at the Rommel Fernández stadium in Panama City, the local team took the lead in the 28th minute when Rolando Blackburn took advantage of a weak rejection from goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa to define with a toe kick inside the small area.

In the second half, Mexico began to dominate the actions and came close to drawing in the 55th minute with a shot from Luis Romo that goalkeeper Luis Mejía deflected on the goal line.

Mexico put Panama’s goal in danger again in the 63rd minute with a shot from Jesús Corona that passed very close to the left post.

Six minutes later, Mejía saved his goal again by deflecting a dangerous shot from Sebastián Córdova.

Mexico’s pressure paid off in the 76th minute when Corona scored the tying goal with a shot from inside the box after Córdova smashed his shot off the right post.

“It was a difficult game, he got a point, it’s what we were looking for, a point or victory. There are things to improve,” Córdova told TUDN after the match.

Other fronts

In the other qualifying games played on Wednesday, Canada beat El Salvador 3-0 with goals from Atiba Hutchinson, Jonathan Davis and Tajon Buchanan.

The Canadian team opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Hutchinson finished off a Richie Laryea cross in the box.

The home team extended their lead in the 11th minute with a header from Davis after a serve from Buchanan, who scored the third goal in the 59th after taking advantage of a defensive error.

Costa Rica and Jamaica drew 1-1 with goals from Jimmy Marín and Shamar Nicholson after three and 48 minutes, respectively, in a match where goalkeepers Keylor Navas and Andre Blake were the protagonists.

“I am aware that this is a complicated tie and that we have to improve, that is totally clear to me,” said Costa Rica’s technical director, Colombian Luis Fernando Suárez.

Meanwhile, the United States thrashed 4-1 as a visitor to Honduras with goals from Antony Robinson, Ricardo Pepi, Brenden Aaronson and Sebastian Lletget after Bryan Moya had overtaken the local team.

Moya put Honduras ahead in the 27th minute with a header from a cross sent by Diego Rodríguez.

The United States tied in the 48th minute with a shot from Robinson inside the area.

The US team came back in the 75th minute with a header from Pepi. Aaronson hit the third in the 87th with a powerful shot from inside the area.

And in spare time, the United States registered the fourth goal through Lletget with a shot inside the area in the 92nd minute.

On the next round of the tie, to be played on October 7, Mexico will be home to Canada, the United States will face Jamaica, Costa Rica will visit Honduras, and Panama will go to El Salvador.

The first three places in the Concacaf octagonal qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. The fourth will have to play an intercontinental playoff in June 2022.

“There are eight teams that are very even, the tie is very even and the World Cup qualifiers will be defined until the end,” Theiler said.