Co-hosts of the World Cup, Mexico, suffered a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Switzerland during a friendly match at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, leaving coach Javier Aguirre notably displeased.
El Tri faced the Swiss as part of their preparations for this month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, yet their weaknesses were laid bare by Murat Yakin’s side.
“Conceding four goals is tough to swallow; it’s time to lower our heads and get back to training,” Aguirre stated.
“We made numerous errors, both as a unit and individually, and teams of this quality will take full advantage of that,” he continued.
Switzerland opened the scoring in the 20th minute, with Ricardo Rodriguez delivering a long pass to Breel Embolo, who slotted the ball past goalkeeper Raul Rangel.
In the 29th minute, Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel thwarted a close-range attempt from Santiago Gimenez, blocking it with his chest.
Mexico’s Vincent Sierro nearly scored in the 34th minute, hitting the crossbar, while on the other end, Rangel managed to keep out a threatening shot from Silvan Widmer.
Gimenez equalised for Mexico with a header in the 51st minute, but the Swiss quickly reclaimed the lead 13 minutes later when Zeki Amdouni scored from close range.
Dan Ndoye extended Switzerland’s advantage to 3-1, finding the net from a tight angle after a clever setup from Fabian Rieder. However, Mexico clawed back into contention when Angel Sepulveda, assisted by Alexis Vega, finished with a brilliant first-time shot past Kobel.
As Mexico pressed forward searching for an equalizer, Switzerland countered with Rieder chipping the ball over the keeper from the edge of the area, sealing the victory.
Mexico’s next challenge comes against Turkey on Tuesday in North Carolina, while Switzerland will take on the USA in Nashville.
Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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