Mexico outclass All Whites with comfortable win in California friendly
Sunday, 8 September 2024
At the Rose Bowl, Los Angeles: Mexico 3 (Orbelín Pineda 5’, César Huerta 53’, Luis Romo 57’) All Whites 0. HT: 1-0
The All Whites were outclassed by Mexico in the first of this month’s two friendly internationals against co-hosts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
They fell behind after just five minutes on Saturday (Sunday NZ time) at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, when Orbelín Pineda fired into the bottom left corner.
César Huerta then scored a tap-in eight minutes into the second half, almost immediately after he entered the contest off the bench.
Luis Romo then extended Mexico’s lead further just four minutes later, with his shot from the edge of the box taking a deflection as it went past Max Crocombe in the New Zealand goal.
The loss meant the All Whites have now gone eight completed matches without a win outside Oceania since beating China 2-1 in Wellington last March.
They now face the United States in Cincinnati on Tuesday (11am Wednesday NZ time) in their last outing before their focus turns to Oceania World Cup qualifying.
The All Whites are set to have five competitive matches across the October, November and March international windows – as well as a friendly against Malaysia.
There they will be looking to book their return trip to North America in June and July 2026, for the tournament hosted by this month’s opponents and Canada.
On the evidence of their display at the Rose Bowl, Darren Bazeley’s side look to have plenty of work to do to bridge the gap to the quality of opposition they will face at the World Cup.
Pineda was teed up in the early exchanges by Roberto Alvarado, who sent a free header from the right of the area back across goal.
Crocombe was then called into action to twice deny Santiago Giménez, first getting down to his left then being alert with his feet.
The All Whites struggled to string together any sustained stretches of possession, though they did look lively down the left through Liberato Cacace and Ben Old towards the end of the first half.
It was from a corner won down that side of that pitch that they had their best chance, as a corner from Old skimmed the head of a Mexican defender but was just missed by Tommy Smith at the back post.
Any hopes of a second-half comeback and a first win over Mexico since 1980 were crushed within the first 12 minutes of the second half,
Huerta almost scored a second right after his first and was at the heart of the attacking move that led to Romo scoring his side’s third.
With the result a foregone conclusion, both coaches introduced a host of substitutes. The new entries included defender Bill Tuiloma for the All Whites, who sent a free kick from a dangerous position straight into the Mexican wall.
The win was Mexico’s seventh in a row against the All Whites, with their only defeat remaining the 4-0 one in Auckland in 1980.