Mexico suffered only their second ever qualifying defeat in the Azteca Stadium with a 2-1 loss to Honduras on Friday that increases the pressure on coach Jose Manuel de la Torre and leaves El Tri with plenty of work to do to qualify for Brazil.
Costa Rica, who top the CONCACAF region standings, took a step toward booking their place at next year’s finals with an impressive 3-1 win over the US, while Panama were held to a goalless draw at home to Jamaica in the other game.
After seven rounds of matches, Costa Rica lead the way on 14 points with the US on 13 and Honduras on 10, while Mexico sit in fourth place, outside the automatic qualification slots, on eight points in the final stage group.
Photo: AFP
Panama are on seven and Jamaica are bottom of the six-team standings on three points.
Mexico’s biggest worry going into Friday’s game was a lack of firepower at home after their three previous qualifiers at the Azteca had all ended in goalless draws.
Seeking to address the issue, De la Torre left Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez on the bench and started with Oribe Peralto in attack with the move paying off instantly.
Giovani dos Santos burst down the left flank and picked out Peralto with a low cross, which the striker calmly slotted home to end Mexico’s home goal drought after just six minutes.
Mexico seemed in control, but the introduction of Jerry Bengtson to the Honduran attack changed the game.
Carlos Costly’s powerful drive was parried by Jose Corona and Bengtson reacted quickly to tap in the loose ball for a 64th minute equalizer.
Two minutes later, Costly grabbed the winner when he bustled past Diego Reyes before unleashing a superb shot into the far corner.
Mexico travel to Columbus, Ohio to face the US on Tuesday with both teams feeling the pressure to get back to winning ways quickly.
The US suffered a blow even before the game began when key midfielder Michael Bradley limped off the field with an ankle injury picked up during the warmup.
Costa Rica grabbed the lead in the third minute when Jhonny Acosta headed in a corner.
Seven minutes later it was 2-0 when Cristian Bolanos floated a ball towards the back post and Celso Borges rose superbly to head home.
Playing in his 100th international game, Clint Dempsey converted a penalty shortly before the break to give Juergen Klinsmann’s side hope of a second half comeback.
However, a goal on the breakaway by the lively Joel Campbell with 13 minutes remaining secured victory for Costa Rica.
Panama will be kicking themselves for not taking advantage of Mexico’s stumble after they failed to defeat a Jamaica team that played most of the second half with 10 men.
It was the first game in charge for Jamaica’s new German coach Winfried Schaefer and he had goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts to thank for some superb saves.
Jamaica had Rodolph Austin sent off for a second bookable offence in the 58th minute, but held on for a point.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB