He may not have started the match, but Mexico’s 1-0 win over Senegal in an international friendly at Soldier Field Monday night was all about Cuauhtémoc Blanco.
The former Fire midfielder – who received a standing ovation from the pro-Mexican crowd of 60,610 upon entering the match in the 56th minute – ignited what was a relatively stagnant El Tri attack, nearly registering an assist with his first touch of the ball a minute later before forward Alberto Medina gave Mexico the lead in the 60th minute.
Midfielder Andrés Guardado – who came on at halftime for Adolfo Bautista – sent Medina in over the top with a lofted ball from the middle of the pitch. Senegal keeper Khadim Ndiaye beat Medina to the ball on the right side of the box, but he was unable to control the ball and the opportunistic Medina picked it up and calmly passed the ball into the side of the net.
Mexico continued to attack after taking the lead and nearly doubled their advantage on several occasions. Forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández came close in the 66th minute, after defender Efraín Juárez picked him out with a low cross at the back post.
The 21-year-old Chicharito – who recently signed with Manchester United – was wide open only a few yards from goal but wasn’t able to put his sliding shot into the back of the net, sending it narrowly wide of the left post.
Medina nearly scored his second in the 78th minute. Chicharito stole the ball from a Senegalese defender on the left edge of the area and laid a pass off to a wide-open Blanco just outside the 18.
Blanco picked up his head and put a cross right on the foot of a streaking Medina who – despite being completely unmarked – let the ball slide under him, allowing Ndiaye to make the save.
Senegal, which struggled to find any success in the attack throughout the match, had its closest chance in the 75th minute. Winger Djibril Sidibe attempted to hit a cross towards the center of keeper Óscar Pérez’s box, but saw his ball drift towards the goalmouth.
Pérez, who had come out to defend the cross, hustled back to the net before getting a hand on the ball, deflecting it over the cross bar to preserve the lead.
Despite the win, Mexico wasn’t completely satisfied with the performance. El Tri felt like they cut it a bit too close against what was essentially Senegal’s “B” team and they emphasized the need to improve upon their finishing in postmatch interviews.
"I'm focused on it,” Mexico head coach Javier Aguirre said of his team’s finishing. “We didn’t [finish] too many opportunities in these games.”
The victory was Mexico's first of its three-match pre-World Cup tour of the U.S. El Tri was held to a 0-0 draw by Ecuador last Friday at New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., and will close out on Thursday in Houston against Angola.
Mexico then returns home for a send-off match against Chile on May 16 at Estadio Azteca before matches in Europe against England, the Netherlands and Italy.
Aguirre's squad opens the World Cup on June 11 against host South Africa in Johannesburg.
Note: Blanco, Fire head coach Carlos de los Cobos and Fire technical director Frank Klopas shared a photo opportunity before the beginning of the match. Blanco, who played with the Fire from 2007 to 2009, is currently out of contract and could possibly return to the Fire after this summer’s World Cup.
