Mexican Triumph over Brazil

Mexico have stunned the World Cup holders Brazil at the Confederations Cup this morning with a hard fought 1-0 victory.

Striker Jared Borgetti was at the centre of the most influential moments of the game as he was left crestfallen at the end of one half and jubilant at the end of the next.

It was Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira's 100th game in charge of the illustrious nation, and he stayed loyal to the starting line up which dismantled European champions Greece just a few days earlier.

The biggest absence from a Mexican perspective was captain Rafael Marquez with the Barcelona defender again missing through injury.

As always Brazil were favoured to end this match victorious and they started in typical fashion, the attacking quartet of Adriano, Kaka, Ronaldinho and Robinho providing a spectacular array of offensive talent.

The Brazilians were linking up brilliantly in approach play but thankfully for Mexico they were being restricted to shots from outside the area, Ronaldinho the first of many to see a long range effort evade the target.

Adriano, Kaka and Robinho followed suit with innocuous efforts before Morales produced the first glimpse of attacking ability for the Mexicans, testing Dida at the near post with a forcefully struck attempt.

While that effort seemed like a fleeting moment of difficulty for the AC Milan shot stopper he was left to deal with a far more difficult situation moments later.

A simple ball was played into the area and with little danger present Roque Junior pulled back Borgetti, subsequently the referee didn't hesitate in pointing to the spot while booking the Brazilian captain in the process.

Up stepped the striker himself and coolly converted what he thought was his 31st goal for his country. To his dismay one of his Mexican team mates had encroached slightly and the referee stuck to the letter of the law in requiring it to be retaken.

At the second attempt Borgetti beat Dida but not the woodwork as he saw his effort crash off the crossbar. Was that the end of the story? Not quite, Dida had moved off his line to illegally assist his efforts in stopping the penalty and once more the referee ordered a retake.

Borgetti refused to relinquish the penalty taking responsibility however and this time Dida made a legitimate save down to his right, and Borgetti was left to reflect on a major chance wasted.

Buoyed by that let off Brazil resumed the ascendancy.

After being fed by Robinho, Cafu's stand in Cicinho went on an impressive run before firing a shot into the near post but the Mexican keeper Sanchez was equal to it and Brazil were finding it difficult to truly break down their determined opponents.

However after taking advantage of a careless error Ronaldinho immediately played a perfect through ball to Adriano, who one on one with the keeper tried to place the ball to the right only to see Sanchez get a fingertip to it and divert it round the post.

Morales carved out another long distance shooting opportunity but Dida saved comfortably, and the majority of the half was typical of two sides that are immensely familiar with each others playing style.

Still there was time for easily the best chance of the half as the ball fell to Adriano about 10 yards out, but the usually devastating front man is very much left footed and his right foot contrived to lift the ball over the bar from what was a very inviting position.

Morales tried to provide a bright opening to the second stanza for his country with an instant long range attempt but Brazil were predictably soon back on the offensive.

A Ronaldinho flighted pass was controlled well by Robinho but the youngster heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid couldn't keep his lob down.

At the other end Borgetti stole in unmarked at the far post but typical of his night thus far the 2002 world cup hero skewed his effort miserably.

A thrilling breaking attack by the South American champions saw Adriano and Kaka combine excellently but both the AC Milan player and then Ronaldinho had their shots blocked by what was proving to be a very resolute Mexican back four.

However for all the Brazilian dominance the team who had gone 18 games without defeat prior to this match since losing to Brazil were quite capable of counter attacks, and after Morales had won a corner they indeed took a perhaps unexpected lead.

A straight forward corner whipped in by Pardo was won convincingly by Jared Borgetti who shrugged off the attentions of Roque Junior to head the ball past a helpless Dida, atoning for his previous failings in the match.

Brazilian pride was on the line and they didn't have to wait long before a beautifully worked move heavily involving Kaka led to Adriano celebrating an equaliser, only to be suitably disappointed by the site of an offside flag.

Gaps were being left at the back by Brazil in search of the needed goal and when they could Mexico attempted to exploit them, substitute Mendez dragging a shot wide when he may have been better served to cross.

The world champions were toiling without reward and they moved into the four minutes of injury time no closer to an equalising goal, Lucio volleying a speculative effort wide.

And after a Ronaldinho corner the Bayern Munich centre back had the best late chance with a closer range volley but yet again Sanchez was proving infallible in the Mexican goal.

The final whistle was eventually blown and Brazilian despondency was as evident as Mexican joy.

Brazil now need to get a result in their next match against Japan who beat Euro 2004 winner Greece 1-0 earlier in the day to qualify for the semi finals.

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