Mexico Players Crushed: El Tri Suffers Devastating Collapse Against Colombia in Aguirre's Darkest Hour
Colombia delivered Mexico its heaviest defeat in more than a year with a commanding 4–0 victory on Saturday evening.
Missing Raúl Jiménez and Edson Álvarez, Mexico entered the field at AT&T Stadium with their strongest available lineup, aiming to overcome a Colombian team that had netted nine goals across their previous two fixtures.
Colombia opened the scoring from a dead ball situation. James Rodríguez delivered an exquisite cross that Jhon Lucumí converted to break the deadlock in the 17th minute. While the delivery was lethal, Mexico keeper Luis Malagón bore responsibility by remaining rooted to his line rather than attempting to claim the aerial ball.
Javier Aguirre's squad rallied effectively following the opener and found their rhythm. Mexico controlled the tempo for the rest of the opening period, yet couldn't convert their impressive performance into goals. Santiago Giménez created El Tri's best opportunity, though his effort sailed wide as Mexico entered the interval behind.
Mexico maintained their attacking momentum following the restart. A superb link-up between Alexis Vega and Marcel Ruiz culminated with Orbelín Pineda unleashing a first-time effort that David Ospina denied in El Tri's most threatening moment of the match.
The squandered opportunities ultimately came back to haunt them. James delivered another sublime through ball for Luis Díaz, and the Bayern Munich forward broke clear before expertly lobbing Malagón to extend Colombia's advantage in the 56th minute.
Ten minutes afterward, El Tri's evening deteriorated further. Mexico attempted to deal with a cross but the ball dropped invitingly for Jefferson Lerma to unleash a spectacular volley. The Crystal Palace midfielder struck a thunderbolt that left Malagón helpless as Colombia grabbed their third.
Johan Carbonero sealed Mexico's fate during a late breakaway where an indecisive Malagón couldn't get to the ball quickly enough. Carbonero calmly slotted his finish through the goalkeeper's legs to complete his team's fourth.
The comprehensive loss serves as a harsh reality check for El Tri. Colombia demonstrated to Aguirre's players exactly how much ground they need to cover before challenging the world's elite national sides.
Individual player assessments from the encounter below.
Mexico Player Ratings vs. Colombia (4-2-3-1)
*Ratings provided by FotMob*
Position / Players | Ratings (Out of 10) |
|---|---|
GK: Luis Malagón | 4.2 |
RB: Jorge Sánchez | 5.1 |
CB: César Montes | 5.2 |
CB: Johan Vásquez | 5.7 |
LB: Jesús Gallardo | 5.8 |
CM: Marcel Ruiz | 5.8 |
CM: Erik Lira | 5.9 |
RW: Diego Lainez | 6 |
AM: Orbelín Pineda | 5.7 |
LW: Alexis Vega | 5.9 |
ST: Santiago Gimenez | 6 |
SUB: Luis Romo (57' for Lainez) | 6 |
SUB: Erick Sánchez (57' for Pineda) | 6.6 |
SUB: Hirving Lozano (57' for Ruíz) | 6.4 |
SUB: Germán Berterame (67' for Gimenez) | 6.4 |
SUB: Julián Quiñones (67' for Vega) | 6.3 |
SUB: Carlos Rodríguez (77' for Lira) | 5.9 |
Subs not used: Carlos Acevedo (GK), Raúl Rangel (GK), Israel Reyes, Kevin Álvarez, Ramón Juárez, Mateo Chávez, Alexis Gutierrez, César Huerta.
Player of the Match: James Rodríguez (Colombia)
Mexico Player of the Match: Erick Sánchez
Colombia (4-2-3-1): David Ospina; Daniel Muñoz, Willer Ditta, Jhon Lucumí, Álvaro Angulo; Jefferson Lerma, Kevin Castaño; Kevin Serna, James Rodríguez, Luis Díaz; Luis Suárez.
Subs: Jáminton Campaz, Johan Carbonero, Juan Fernando Quintero, Rafael Santos Borre, Juan Camilo Portilla, Richard Rios.