Leave it to Mexico to take the shine off the U.S.'s 3-1 home win
against Ecuador last weekend. Dylan Hernandez of the Monterey Herald
was on hand to watch the Mexicans come from behind to beat Ecuador,
4-2, in Oakland, in front of a capacity crowd of 47,416 fans at McAfee
Coliseum. Hernandez describes the kind of home atmosphere the U.S.
could only dream about, as the Americans labored to draw Guatemala in
front of a paltry 11,000 fans at Pizza Hut Park. The game, promoted by
MLS's Soccer United Marketing and Earthquakes Soccer LLC, the company
headed by A's owner Lew Wolff that hopes to bring soccer back to San
Jose, was sold out two weeks ago.
It was a very spirited performance from El Tri, too. Recalling Sunday's
match against the U.S., the Ecuador keeper -- this time Cristian Mora -- again had to pull
the ball out of his net in the first minute after Francisco Palencia's
quick shot caught him completely off-balance after just 29 seconds.
Ecuador then took control, responding once again just before halftime
after a powerful breakaway from Carlos Tenorio. Eleven minutes into the
second half, Ecuador a left-post header from Felix Borja put the South
Americans into the lead. Then El Tri composed itself, thanks to a
captain's goal-a fantastic free kick-from Barcelona's Rafael Marquez in
the 73rd minute. A brilliant individual run down the right from Adolfo
Bautista put Mexico in the lead for a good. His square pass found Omar
Bravo for an easy tap in the 84th. Man of the match Bautista then
sealed the win in the 90th minute with a shot from about 10 yards. Read the original story...



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