World Cup: Mexico Shows France Winning Is Everything
This is what happens when what could have been a cagey match becomes a cage match.
Plenty of Mexican fans wearing delightful wrestling masks were cheering and cringing in fear.
Plenty more Irish fans, who had booked their tickets in the belief that France's Thierry Henry couldn't possibly handle France past Ireland in the qualifying competition, also offered their support.
(Well, the Mexicans also wear green and like beer.)
With their encouragement and the Mexicans' own almost ridiculously positive enterprise, the men in green shoved France's Les Bleus to the precipice of elimination by deservedly winning 2-0.
In the first half, both teams decided there would be no glory, and no result, in playing defensively.
Yet execution failed them at vital moments, with the overly confident Carlos Vela being the most blatant offender. In the 9th minute, he offered a left-footed volley that would only have pleased an NFL punter.
Mexico plays with three forwards and engaging quickness. And it was that very quickness, 20 minutes into the second half, which broke the game open with just a tinge of controversy.
Javier Hernandez might have had half a foot beyond the last French center-back when he ran to meet a chip from Rafa Marquez.
Perhaps the assistant referee gave him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he was just too quick for the assistant referee to have followed his path.
Hernandez took his goal with joy and grace, skipping around Lloris in the French goal, as if he was a chair that someone had casually tossed on the floor.
Some will be additionally moved to excitement by the knowledge that Hernandez' grandfather, Tomas Balcazar, also scored against France in the 1954 World Cup.
The Mexicans dart like neurotic ticks. One second, they're there. The next, they're elsewhere, often with the ball and dangerous intentions.
And so it proved in the 78th minute, when Barrera broke down the right, into the penalty box, and, being pleasantly surprised that France's Eric Abidal was needlessly sliding in at him, decided to assist the Frenchman in committing a foul.
One of the most portly individuals to have ever graced the World Cup finals, 37-year-old Cuauhtemoc Blanco, decided to enjoy a gloriously overlong run-up in order to plant a perfect penalty to Lloris' right and waddle away in triumph.
The French coach, Raymond Domenech, one of the most spectacularly unpopular in the history of French football, had no idea who might offer him a goal.
He removed Nicolas Anelka at the half. Yet he didn't even think that Thierry Henry merited a role. Perhaps that shows just how ready Henry is for the Red Bulls of the MLS, his next destination.
France isn't out, but it is down in so many ways. There is clearly enormous discord between the players and their coach. And while they may beat South Africa, what sort of game might Mexico and Uruguay play?
A draw, after all, would put them both through. However, who could possibly forget one of the truly shameful episodes of World Cup football, when, in 1982 West Germany and Austria played to a convenient script of a 1-0 win for the Germans in their last group game, eliminating the wonderful Algerians?
In those days, the final matches of the group games weren't played simultaneously. Indeed, that game caused FIFA to change the rules, so that such an appalling manipulation could never be repeated.
Still, Mexico and Uruguay will experience temptations. Calculations, too.
The goal of the final group standings is to avoid Argentina, which will surely top its group. You need to win the group. At least then, it might be South Korea. Oh, the torment of it all.
Mexico has, however, put itself in a wonderful situation with exactly the kind of play that the World Cup needs to see.
The Mexicans are slowly, no, quickly, making themselves the favorites of the neutrals.
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing, and an avid sports fan. He is also the author of the popular CNET blog Technically Incorrect.
See also:
Pictures: Opening rounds of the World Cup
South Africa Falls to a Tragedy of Errors
Swiss Make Melted Cheese Out of Spain
Paraguay Tries to Be Italy, Almost Beats Italy
World Cup: Germany and Ghana Buzz the U.S. team
World Cup: U.S. Lets England Put Egg on Its Own Face