Leipzig, Germany – For a good 90 minutes here Saturday, the World Cup veered off its chartered course, a path toward one of the great finals in Cup history: Brazil, the defending champion and the best team in the world, versus Argentina, the best team so far in this World Cup.
Two neighbors, two soccer giants and bitter rivals, meeting in Berlin’s legendary Olympic Stadium on July 9. The world wanted it. The world expected it.
Then on a beautiful, warm evening in this one-time industrial city in the heart of the former East Germany, Argentina ran up against an unlikely pest. Underachieving Mexico went from suspect to superb when it needed it most.
Mexico took mighty Argentina into overtime before losing, 2-1, on the kind of goal that makes Argentina the threat that it is. Maxi Rodriguez softly bounced a long pass off his chest and, before it hit the ground, miraculously kicked in a perfect 30-yard arc just past the diving hand of Mexico goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez.
To say Argentina felt fortunate to escape what would have been the biggest upset of this tournament would be best reflected in Rodriguez’s description of his goal.
“It could’ve gone into the stands as easily as it went in the net,” he said.
The goal spoiled a marvelous performance by Mexico, a team supported throughout Germany by an estimated 65,000 Mexican fans, nearly all of them disappointed – until Saturday. Mexico was a team that woke up in the second half in a win over Iran, looked awful in a scoreless tie with Angola and looked outmanned in a loss to undermanned Portugal.
Yet against Argentina, El Tri controlled the ball for most of the game, its defense allowed almost nothing and it generally turned Argentina into just another team from South America.
“In the world of football,” coach Ricardo La Volpe said, “on the field, Mexico showed they know how to play football.”
Followers of Western Hemisphere soccer weren’t necessarily shocked Saturday. In their previous three meetings, Mexico and Argentina were 1-1-1. But no one expected Mexico to dominate from the opening gun and take a 1-0 lead before the first chants of “O-LAY, O-LAY, O-LAY, O-LAY!” had finished.
La Volpe had made changes. Omar Bravo, his only player with two goals, was out with two yellow cards, and La Volpe went with three forwards, adding the healed Jared Borgetti and Ramon Morales to go with established sniper Jose Fonseca. The combo worked.
Six minutes into the game, Pavel Pardo made a free kick over the penalty box, past the entire Argentine defense and onto the charging foot of captain Rafael Marquez. The Barcelona defender kicked it into the left side of the net for a 1-0 lead.
Even after Argentina tied it when Herman Crespo raced past Borgetti to head in Juan Riquelme’s corner kick four minutes later, it appeared Mexico had control. It outshot Argentina in the first half, 6-4, and controlled the ball 52 percent of the time. Crespo, who scored his third goal, nary got a whiff of another shot.
“We didn’t think it was going to be easy,” Argentina coach Jose Pekerman said. “I think their strategy was very good. They played as well as I expected. That’s not being diplomatic here. That’s the way I feel.”
In the second half, Mexico lost defender Andres Guardado to an injury, but it still had many chances. Borgetti, its most dangerous player, who missed the last two games with an injury, missed on two straight headers and Fonseca nearly won it with a header that went wide left in the 86th minute.
The longer the game went, however, the more the deeper Argentines had the advantage. Pekerman substituted in Lionel Messi, who turned 19 Saturday and may be the best 19-year-old in the world, and Carlos Tevez, who has been superb the whole tournament.
The extra offense paid off early in the two 15-minute overtime periods. Three minutes into OT, Rodriguez did his magic in a goal that will be replayed forever. However, in what was a downer of a World Cup, Mexico finally played a game that should be replayed forever, too.
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
SATURDAY
Germany 2, Sweden 0
Argentina 2, Mexico 1 OT
TODAY
England vs. Ecuador,
9 a.m., KMGH-7, KCEC-50
Portugal vs. Netherlands, 1 p.m., ESPN, KCEC-50
