A goal by Edson Álvarez gave victory to Mexico this sunday about Honduras by 0-1, a result that allows him to qualify in advance to the Qatar World Cup, from which the Hondurans were already eliminated. The only goal of the match came in the 70th minute after a header from the Ajax winger Álvarez following a corner kick.
From the first minute of the clash, the Aztec team did not stop putting pressure on the Honduran goal through constant arrivals of Jesús ‘Tecatito’ Corona, Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano and Raúl Jiménez.
Corona tried his luck in the 11th minute with a shot near the rival goal that goalkeeper Luis ‘Buba’ López managed to clear. The Mexican squad dominated most of the time and pressed hard, but in the first half they lacked precision in their game at the Metropolitan Olympic Stadium in San Pedro Sula, northern Honduras, without an audience due to a FIFA sanction.
The Honduran match was played behind closed doors
Pressured by their local status, the Honduran team, which is already eliminated from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, went out in search of victory, but almost the entire first half of the game was dedicated to defending against a succession of attacks from Mexico.
Mexico added 25 points today, the same as the United States, which is in second place, and is still 3 behind Canada, the first ranked team.
DATA SHEET
0 – Honduras: Luis Lopez; Marcelo Santos, Marcelo Pereira, Denil Maldonado, Wesley Decas; Alfredo Mejía, Kevin Arriaga (d. 46, Edwin Rodríguez), Bryan Acosta (d. 83, Gersón Chávez), Cristian Sacaza (d. 53, Alex López), Kevin López and Ángel Tejeda
Coach: Hernan Dario Gomez
1 – Mexico: William Ochoa; Jorge Sánchez, César Montes, Johan Vásquez, Gerardo Arteaga (m,67. Uriel Antuna), Edson Álvarez; Héctor Herrera, Carlos Rodríguez, Jesús Manuel Corona (m.67, Diego Laínez); Raúl Jiménez (m.80, Henry Martín) and Hirving Lozano.
Coach: Jorge Theiler (assistant)
Referee: The American Armando Villarreal admonished Arriaga and Maldonado from Honduras, and Herrera and Arteaga from Mexico
Goal: 0-1, Edson Alvarez (d. 70)
Incidents: Match of the thirteenth day of the octagonal final of the Concacaf qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup played without an audience at the Metropolitan Olympic Stadium, in San Pedro Sula, northern Honduras
