Swaggering Mexico that fans expect finally shows up in Gold Cup

It took three matches and another half-hour, but this was the Mexico team fans wanted to see.

They enjoyed it too. Each time Mexico had the ball in the back of the net, whether it later would be ruled out for offside or not, people the crowd of 64,211 threw their drinks in the air in celebration. And why not celebrate? Mexico was dominant, rolling past Honduras 3-0 to book its place in the Gold Cup semifinals next week in Houston.

"I feel that the control was ours over the 90 minutes, doing that in a do or die game is even more transcendental," Mexico manager Tata Martino said after the contest. "Group stage games allow you a mistake, but in these games, an error sends you home. This gives us more confidence in the face of what’s coming."

For the first 10 minutes, it looked like it might be the same story from the group stage. Rogelio Funes Mori and Jonathan dos Santos each missed chances, as did Hector Herrera. Unlike past occasions, though, the misses looked to fuel the players.

Funes Mori scored in the 26th minute, nodding home a cross from Luis “Chaka” Rodriguez after Herrera found the fullback alone on the right wing.

Dos Santos followed up with a second five minutes later, thwarting a Honduras defense that felt it had successfully cleared the danger of another cross intended for Funes Mori only to see the LA Galaxy midfielder smash a volley past goalkeeper Luis “Buba” Lopez.

El Tri again exploited the left side of Honduras’ defense in the 38th minute, with Jesus “Tecatito” Corona shimmying free and sending in service for Orbelin Pineda, who only needed to put the softest of touches on the ball with his head to direct it over the goal line as well.

"What we have is perseverance because the same situations that were there in other games showed up in the first 10 minutes," Martino said. "In the first 10 minutes, we had three one-on-ones and we couldn’t finish them off. Then, the team, in 12 minutes, practically right after those three chances, gives us, obviously, a lot of calmness because obviously when you have three goals - not always - but usually that decides the game."

It may not have been an entirely fair fight. Both squads saw their depth weakened before the tournament by the fact they’re also competing in the men’s Olympic soccer tournament and each team lost their best player on the Gold Cup roster to injury (Mexico losing Hirving Lozano to a neck injury and Honduras losing Alberth Elis to a foot issue).

Yet, Honduras has borne the brunt of a COVID-19 outbreak in its squad, already missing two players in the group stage and seeing three more players plus manager Fabian Coito unavailable for Saturday’s knockout round clash. Romell Quioto, the top remaining attacker for Honduras, wasn’t fit to make even the bench.

“The first half, we had enormous distractions for Mexico to be able to score those goals so easily. We didn’t find the way we’d talked about, we’d trained and we’d told the players about,” said Arnold Cruz, sitting in for Coito, after the match. “We have to rescue the small moments where we had some personality to play, but not how Honduras knows how to.”

Even if Honduras had been it full strength, it’s too early to say Mexico truly has done anything special. Getting to the semifinals isn’t even the minimum expectation for the team in this tournament. It was clear, though, if Mexico didn’t improve upon its showings in the group stage, it would be difficult to defend its Gold Cup crown.

Finish off chances like they did Saturday night? Smother the winner of Costa Rica vs. Canada as comprehensively as they smothered Los Catrachos? That’s the type of team that can go all the way to Vegas and win convincingly.

Before the match, center back Nestor Araujo said the era of “goleadas” is over, with Mexico having to fight tooth and nail for every result. He’s right, but Saturday sent a reminder not only to Mexico itself but to the rest of the region that on its best day, Mexico truly can blowout nearly any team in the region.

They’re two steps away from the goal they’ve always had in mind: A Gold Cup title defense and a convincing claim as the best team in Concacaf.