Mexico V Croatia World Cup 2014

Mexico V Croatia Fifa World Cup 2014

After match synopsis in red!!

Beers: Group A of Beer World Cup: http://thisdrinkinglife.com/world-cup-beer-group/

Who is set to win the battle of the beers? Corona V Karlovacko Who will quench the thirst, set the mood, get me in the right spirit? Click on picture for a preview of the beers.

Get the beer result after, much after!

Corona V Karlovacko: Corona Wins 1-0. Gave it to Corona as it had a much more refreshing taste in the end, going down very smooth. The beer might not be the best looker, but its a good clean lager, with a nice aroma of light sweet corn bread that is not overbearing. Karlovacko, a nice beer, with a good frothy head appearance that stuck around with a good grain scent, was very appealing, but its strong bitter aftertaste was no match for Corona’s overall sweetness, and that why I gave it to the lighter beer. Click on links below for full beer information and reviews.

PreGame:

Croatia: Great victory against Cameroon, easy enough in the end but it restores confidence in the team and with four goals scored was good shooting practice.

Mandzukic was my man of the match, making a huge difference to the team, chipping in with two goals and his general all round play was good.

For Croatia the Cameroon game was an easy victory, but more importantly a huge boost for their do or die next game against Mexico. With Mandzukic they have a big chance of making the next round, and he might just have to score as a win is probably whats needed as its likely that Brazil will beat Cameroon. A must win game for Croatia.

Mexico: Guillermo Ochoa, the Mexican goalkeeper, was brilliant against Brazil, stopping everything that came his way. He gave a very assured performance and its crazy to believe that he is currently without a club, having left his French team, Ajaccio, just before the world cup was to begin. His was one of the stand out performances of the world cup so far.

It goes without saying that the Mexican keeper was man of the match, but I would also like to give an honourable mention to Rafael Márquez. I put my hand up, I thought he might struggle in this world cup, due to age, but he was magnificent in the Brazilian game. Holding the line perfectly, and showing us that he can play like the good old days of yesteryear. Wonder will the old legs keep going strong for another 90 minutes tonight.

Brazil were not good against Mexico, they looked very very ordinary and with a little more composure in front of goals the El Tricolor could have won this game. Will this come back to haunt them in the against Croatia if they lose? I can see this game going right to the wire.

A more detailed review on Croatia here and on Mexico here

It felt at times if Mexico were playing this game at home such was the level of support for them in the stands. But boy did they go home happy as Mexico put on another magnificent show in this 3-1 thrashing of Croatia.

Croatia did some pressing at the start and started with some intensity. Mario Mandzukic was about to score from a lovely header when Aguilar stepped up with a great last minute saving header to calm the nerves of the huge travelling support from Mexico. Straight from the following counter attack Croatia had some defending of their own to do, when a fantastic 25 yard strike from midfielder Herrera hit the crossbar. Closer on in the game, Peralta was played through only to bluff his effort and shoot wide. It was a terrible miss for Peralta

Then came a another blunder from the officials. A clear hand ball in the Croatian penalty box was waved away by the referee, Srna’s hands blocking a shot from Guardado.

But not too worry as soon Mexico took the lead when Rafael Marquez jumped up to score from a corner another one of his headed goals. Marquez put his team in front, finally everyone could breath a sigh of relief. Marquez was once again brilliant in defence and marshaled his back line well. He also received a yellow card for a very cynical foul that broke up a very promising Croatian attack, taking one for the team. Overall another towering performance from the Mexican captain.

Mexico were now in the mood for more goals, and soon they came. Guardado chipped in with a lovely strike to put Mexico two up. Super sub, Javier Hernández came on, and sure enough he got his usual trademark goal, nodding in from a far post header after he lost his marker. 3-0 thanks to the “little pea”, and this was beginning to look like a rout of Croatia.

But Croatia did restore some honour in the end when Ivan Perisic scored. But that was also short lived with Ante Rebic sent off late on.

For Croatia they simply didn’t have the fire or heart for this game. Modric was once again rubbish at the heart of midfield. All his fancy flicks were meaningless and not incisive. He had a very disappointing tournament and he should be thoroughly ashamed of his performance for his country. Not so clever talking down Mexico before you have played them, idiot. Only bright spark for Croatia was Corluka, who saved the team with a few last ditch tackles and cleared off the line. He had an excellent game, and without him Croatia would have shipped even more goals. But you need four defenders to make a team, not one.

Also didn’t think the Mexican goalkeeper Ochoa was so hot today, he was a bit flappy, not really as imposing as he was against Brazil. Hopefully that wasn’t his only good game in this World Cup, as his team will need him to be strong as they have the Netherlands up next. A tough game to call, as Mexico are just as good as the Dutch when going forward, and with Marquez playing so well in defence, Mexico do have a chance.

Hopefully the Mexican coach Miguel Herrera wont have a heart attack in the next game, he is MAD, but a joy to watch on the touchline. Brilliant fun.

For Croatia they will go home thinking of what might have been. They didn’t impose themselves against Brazil or Mexico as much as they could. We only saw glimpses of what they can do against a weak Cameroon team. They can moan about the referring in the first game, but Mexico deserved to get out of the group as they showed more heart and desire to get on with it and play football.