El Tri pull out the win on goal by Hernandez
With its top squad gearing up for a FIFA Confederations Cup semifinal against the reigning world champions in Sochi, Russia, Mexico’s “B” team held its own against Ghana at NRG Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Black Stars tested El Tri all match long — outshooting their opponent 19-8 — but a Mexican side made up of the top players in Liga MX willed itself to a 1-0 victory in the penultimate contest of its 2017 U.S. Tour.
“Sometimes if it’s not your day, it’s not your day,” Ghana coach James Kwesi Appiah said. “Considering the way we played, we could have had at least three or four goals easily. But unfortunately we could not finish.”
The pivotal play came as Mexico’s Jesus Gallardo sprinted down the left wing and drew a foul just after entering the 18-yard box. Midfielder Elias Hernandez took the ensuing penalty kick and buried the ball to the left corner of the net in the 32nd minute.
Ghana opened the match with one of its best scoring chances in the first minute. A through ball to forward Majeed Abdul Waris led to a point-blank shot on Mexican keeper Moises Munoz, who managed to get a hand on it.
The sequence set the tone for what would be a fast-paced, high-intensity friendly in front of an NRG Stadium crowd of 37,617.
The Black Stars continually found ways past the Mexican back line in the first half, registering six shots on goal to Mexico’s three. But Ghana’s nine first-half fouls allowed El Tri to maintain possession for much of the period.
“They’re a fast, strong team that was putting pressure on us all night,” Hernandez said. “But there were a lot of times where I thought we stopped them well and kept possession.”
Munoz was replaced as Mexico’s goalkeeper in the 36th minute by Jesus Corona after going down with an injury. Corona was immediately tested by a flurry of shots in the box, but he made a number of key saves to preserve the clean sheet.
“Moises Munoz had a very good performance, as did Jesus Corona,” acting Mexico head coach Luis Pompillio Paez said. “We’re very strong in net.”
The second half featured a similar back-andforth, highlighted by an aggressive attack by Ghana, strong Mexican goaltending and a spate of yellow cards as both sides turned up the intensity.
Midfielder Frank Acheampong had Ghana’s best chance at finding an equalizer in the 78th minute when he found himself alone in the penalty area, one-on-one with Corona. But his left-foot shot hit off the top-left post. mark.eisenhauer@chron.com twitter.com/mark_eisenhauer