Mexico was a shell of its giant-killing self Wednesday against Sweden. After shocking the world and defeating defending champion Germany in its first match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, El Tri ended the group stage with a humiliating 3-0 loss.
By the time the second goal was scored, Mexico was in danger of missing the Round of 16 despite winning its first two games. All Germany had to do to was break a 0-0 deadlock with South Korea that had lasted more than 90 minutes to secure a place in the knockout stage.
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The script seemed prewritten for the Germans. There's a reason Gary Lineker once said, “Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”
Christopher Sullivan, former U.S. men's national team player and current BeIn Sports analyst, said the Germans looked as though they expected to win.
"I think there was a little bit of arrogance that Germany felt," Sullivan told Sporting News. "They were thinking, 'OK, even if we bring back (Sami) Khedira and (Mesut) Ozil, who didn’t play well in the first match against Mexico, we’re still going to get through Korea.' The quandary is that coaches may have a loyalty to the team that they battled in the trenches with to win the glory, the World Cup."
The curse that has plagued four of the last five World Cup champions then caught up to Joachim Low's squad, and South Korea scored the dramatic goal in injury time instead.
Announcer Goals: MBC's call on the first goal
— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) June 27, 2018
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The eventual 2-0 result might not have come as a surprise to those who have been following the international game for years. Saving North American teams in the World Cup is what South Korea does best.
A Mexico supporter waves a South Korea flag at the South Korean embassy in Mexico City. (Getty Images)
In 2002, the United States found itself in a similar position after losing to Poland 3-1 in the last match of the group stage. Portugal had to beat, or draw against, South Korea — which topped the group — to take the second Round of 16 spot in the group and advance.
One beautiful Park Ji-Sung goal later, and it was the Yanks moving on instead of the Portuguese.
"That was a master class, and the gods were looking down on the U.S.," Sullivan said of that game. "That performance against Poland should have put (the USMNT) out."
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The Americans didn’t just receive a reprieve from the Koreans; they also got a confidence boost. They were an improved team heading into the knockout stage.
What resulted was the USMNT's deepest World Cup run in its history, featuring the famous — or infamous, depending on your ethnicity — 2-0 victory over Mexico in the Round of 16, and a fantastic quarterfinal showing against Germany, where it was one handball away from potentially going to the semifinals.
Sullivan believes Mexico is capable of doing the same.
"Mexico were arguably one of the, I would say, top five teams in this tournament so far on their performance (based on) how they played in the first two games," he said. "One thing that the U.S. and Mexico share is they have the mentality that they can perform in a short tournament. I think that Mexico will regroup.
"(Mexico manager) Juan Carlos Osorio brought in a chiropractor from the U.S. national team, he brought in a nutritionist, one of the best from the U.S. team, and, most importantly, he brought in a sports psychologist. Now they’re going to have to put that to use because you can tell that they were somewhat distraught that things weren't lined up for them (against Sweden)."
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With Brazil up next for Mexico, it might seem as though this lifeline has come at a bad time. La Selecao has found its ideal high-tempo form, the forwards have amazing chemistry, and secondary star players like Paulinho are playing at the peak of their abilities.
History, though, shows that El Tri couldn't have asked for a better opponent. The Mexicans "punch above their weight limit against South American teams," as Sullivan puts it.
"When you look at the composition in how Mexico play, it might be better for them to play a team like Brazil, who play open, instead of a team that’s more well-organized like Switzerland or Sweden, who they just came up against," he said.
It will still be up to Osorio to make sure these changes are executed. After running out 49 different lineups in 49 matches, his team has been relatively consistent during its first three World Cup games.
He will have to determine whether the loss to Sweden was enough to add new faces to the lineup, or whether he'll focus on his team's rejuvenation in the next round.
For what it's worth, Bruce Arena, the U.S. manager in '02, made four changes between the Americans' games against Poland and Mexico, and things turned out pretty well for him.
El Tri has gone from humiliated to humbled. It will be sure not to waste its second life.