Mexico dispatched a disapointing France Team 2-0 last night to all but book their place in the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup.
France reeling from the heavy criticism which followed their drab 0-0 draw with Uruguay recalled Florent Malouda for the match and to be fair they looked a whole lot better. Ribery in particular looked lively early on, however Mexico also seemed to be in better shape than when drawing agaoinst South Africa in their opener and they looked just the better team at the end of an entertaining first half which ended 0-0.
In the second half started slowly but as it wore on Mexico started to assert their authority on the game and folowing what was to prove two inspired substitutions, first bringing on Hernandez and then Blanco a few minutes latter they finally took the lead when Hernandez beat the French offside trap to calmly round the keeper and tap the ball into an empty net.
France seemed to be shell shocked by this and never really mounted any attempt at a comeback. It was no surprise when Barrera was brought down in the box and Blanco calmly smashed the penalty into the roof of the net to sew the game up.
Mexico were good value for their win and despite looking somewhat lighweight up front they could be one of the surprise teams of the finals. As for France they will need a lot of luck to avoid another ignominiuos early exit to add to their Euro 2008 woes.
Final Score
Mexico 2-0 France
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