Ochoa leads Mexico to draw with host Brazil

Saves like this one were needed to keep Mexico in the game

Fortaleza, Brazil- Guillermo Ochoa made six saves to preserve a scoreless draw for Mexico against Brazil. Brazil held much of the possession and seemed to get stronger offensively as the game went on forcing Ochoa to make some remarkable saves in order to will his team to one point.


Brazil had quite a few offensive chances, perhaps none better than a header from Thiago Silva off a Neymar free kick late in the second half but could not seem to find the proper finish for a game winner.

The Mexican offense was different from what we saw against Cameroon. El Tri seemed to find more opportunities further away from goal as they launched a handful of shots whizzing past Julio Cesar from outside the penalty area. While this is a positive sign, they struggled to generate runs inside the area or work outside for crosses. If these two offensive game plans can be combined, Mexico has a chance to earn the necessary points against Croatia to advance.

Brazil, playing without Hulk who was injured at practice, once again failed to get everyone involved in the offense. Fred had 3 chances called back for offsides, Paulinho had a cross bounce off him by accident as well as an offsides penalty and Oscar did not perform as well as he did the match before. Clearly the Brazilians are not yet clicking on all cylinders despite having several very nice offensive sequences. If they can manage to get everybody playing well the rest of the world had best watch out.

Mexico has some defensive issues to work out before their match against Croatia as well as trying to get both phases of their offense working at the same time. That said, they managed to play close with a favored Brazilian squad and must consider this draw as a positive. That said, Guillermo Ochoa may not always be there to bail them out.

The next Group A match will be Wednesday as Croatia takes on Cameroon.