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Hernandez leads Mexico into 2nd round
Late goals secure draw with the Netherlands; both advance
Posted: Thursday June 25, 1998 01:20 PM
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Phillip Cocu (11) and the Netherlands took the group top spot because of goal differential (AP) |
ST. ETIENNE, France (AP) --
Mexico
rallied from 2-0 down in the final 15 minutes to tie the Netherlands
2-2 Thursday, qualifying both teams for the second round of the World Cup.
Luis Hernandez fought off defender Jaap Stam and poked the ball
under goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar to score the tying goal in the fifth
minute of injury time, the last in a frantic series of assaults on the
Dutch goal. The Mexicans also came back from 2-0 down to tie Belgium 2-2 in
their previous game. "I am happy. It was an unbelievable game,"
Hernandez said. "It was a fantastic game for us. A triumph for Mexico and
the Mexican people." The result placed the Dutch in first place in
Group E, ahead of Mexico on goal differential. Belgium, which needed a
victory to stay alive, finished third after a 1-1 draw with South
Korea. Phillip Cocu and Ronald de Boer had the goals for the
Dutch, who relaxed late after dominating most of the game. "I think
they earned the draw," Cocu said. "You can only compliment Mexico."
Ricardo Pelaez scored for Mexico in the 75th minute. Cuauhtemoc Blanco also
netted in the 89th, but was whistled for offsides. Ramon Ramirez was given
a red card for protesting the call and will miss Mexico's second round
match Monday. The cool, wet conditions were ideally-suited to the
fast, fluent, attacking tactics of the Dutch, and they got the early goal
in the fifth minute when Cocu ran on to a neat flicked pass by Dennis
Bergkamp and fired a low, hard shot past the dive of goalkeeper Jorge
Campos. It was Cocu's second goal in two matches since being
promoted from a defensive midfielder's role to the forward line in a
surprise switch forced on Dutch coach Guus Hiddink by the two-game
suspension of Patrick Kluivert. De Boer followed with one of the
best individual efforts of the tournament. He shook off three challenges
before sending the ball between the legs of defender Joel Sanchez and off
the left post, catching Campos moving in the wrong direction. Campos
made a nice save on Bergkamp in the 30th minute, but he didn't have a
chance against Marc Overmars' chip shot that drifted tantalizingly wide of
the post in the 40th. Cocu also hit the crossbar in the 50th minute.
Mexico, ragged and ineffective for much of the game, finally got on the
board when Pelaez rose above the Dutch defense to head home German Villa's
corner kick. The ball bounced untouched through a scrum of two Dutch
players and one Mexican and into the net. Until the final minutes,
the most dramatic Mexican performance came from a fan climbed onto the
beams on the underside of the roof covering the stands. The man then
shimmied more than 30 yards down a huge pole to the wild cheers of fellow
Mexican supporters. He was escorted away by stewards. Lineups
Netherlands: Edwin van der Sar; Michael Reiziger, Jaap Stam,
Frank de Boer, Arthur Numan (Winston Bogarde, 72nd); Ronald de Boer, Wim
Jonk (Aron Winter, 71st), Edgar Davids, Marc Overmars; Phillip Cocu, Dennis
Bergkamp (Pierre van Hooijdonk, 78th). Mexico: Jorge Campos;
Claudio Suarez, Salvador Carmona, Joel Sanchez (Ricardo Pelaez, 55th),
Duilio Davino, Ramon Ramirez; German Villa, Alberto Garcia Aspe, Braulio
Luna (Jesus Arellano, 46th); Cuauhtemoc Blanco; Luis Hernandez.
Referee: Abdul Rahman al-Zeid, Saudi
Arabia.
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