At Stadium 974, in Doha, Mexico and Poland entered the field, this Tuesday (22), understanding that whoever won the duel could even think about being the leader of Group C of the Qatar Cup, precisely because of the defeat from Argentina to Arabia in the first game of the bracket.
Ochoa saves the day again! ??@adidasfootball ?? #FIFAWorldCup
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 22, 2022
The Mexicans, led by the now legendary goalkeeper Ochoa, is a country that has a tradition of passing the group stage, while Poland, led by the top scorer Lewandowski, has not managed to advance to the round of 16 since the 1986 World Cup (Mexico).
In the first minutes, a lot of running, wrong passes and little completion on goal. Something normal for a debut, where neither team wanted to expose itself. Only in the 25th minute of the 1st half did there be a clear chance to score, when Alexis Vega headed in and the ball passed inches from goalkeeper Szczesny’s left post. The move cheered the Mexicans and, two minutes later, it was Gallardo’s turn to be launched in depth, bumping into the Polish goalkeeper and missing another opportunity to open the scoring. Sánchez still had a bomb spread by Szczesny in the 44th minute, but the lack of emotion was the keynote of the first period. Natural, then, that the teams took the goalless draw to the locker rooms.
In the second half, just after 8 minutes, the Poles asked for a penalty in Lewandowski. The Australian referee checked the possible foul, went to look at the VAR monitor (video referee) and concluded that there was a pull by the Mexican defender Moreno. Thus, only at 11 minutes, the penalty was taken. Lewandowski tapped and Guillermo Ochoa saved spectacularly from the corner, reaffirming his good form.
A man that LOVES playing in the #FIFAWorldCup ??#Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/UP3NXknZlm
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 22, 2022
After that, the match declined a lot in technical quality. Mexico had few chances to bother goalkeeper Szczesny and, at most, Álvarez risked a shot from outside the area, the ball deflected in the head of Martín and almost surprised. Poland, then, managed to be even worse. The missed penalty had a psychological effect on the athletes and Lewandowski himself disappeared from the match, no longer bothering the Mexican defense.
In this way, with an excess of caution, each coach thought that securing a point in the debut was enough. The massive changes, common in the 2nd half of matches, also had no effect and the World Cup experienced its second 0-0 tie, this time in front of the approximately 39,000 spectators present at Estádio 974.
In the next round of Group C, on Saturday (26), Poland and Saudi Arabia will face each other from 10 am (Brasília time), while Mexico and Argentina will face each other from 4 pm.
