With conditions more favoring the European visitors than the anticipated "home" side, Mexico and Finland battled to a scoreless draw in a match between under-23 national teams Thursday at Pizza Hut Park.
Temperatures were in the low 30s and snow surrounded the field -- and both sides played like teams affected by the elements. In the opening half, Finland had six shots in the opening frame to Mexico's two. The offensive output didn't get much better in the final frame as Finland had three shots and Mexico two.
"We got in four days of work this week but I'm pleased with the way they played," Finland head coach Stuart Baxter said. "Before the last 20 minutes when I started making the changes, I thought it was quite solid."
In the first half, each 'keeper was called upon to make only one difficult save. In the 19th minute, Finnish midfielder Marco Matrone got a great look at the Mexico net from about 10 yards out but El Tri goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa made a great stop at close range.
Mexico's best chance to draw first blood came in the 36th minute. As a free kick bounced around the Finland penalty area, Mexican defender Julio Cesar Dominguez got off a header but Finland goalkeeper Henri Silanpaa made a great diving save at the far post.
Mexico head coach Hugo Sanchez also weighed in on his side's performance and their lack of offensive punch.
"Our players are professionals and that (scoring more goals) is what we are working on," he said. "If anyone watches us, they can see how hard we are working. It's not about goals. It's about how the team is playing."
Mexico's offensive woes continued. On Sunday, El Tri played Australia to a 1-1 draw before a capacity crowd at Network Associates Colisuem in Oakland, Calif. In that match, their only tally came early in the first half when Australia netted an own goal to give them an early 1-0 advantage.
In the second half, the only real chance of note for either side came in the 78th minute, when Finnish midfielder Jussi Kujala, who entered the match at halftime, hit a right-footed shot from the top of the arc but sent it right at Ochoa.
Mexico had a flurry of corners in stoppage time, but Silanpaa made one final save coming off his line to provide the final result.
With Thursday's scoreless affair, El Tri has failed to score a goal in the normal run of play in each of their last five matches. In a 1-0 win against Chile on Feb. 19 in Toluca, Mexico prevailed thanks to a penalty kick. Yet despite the lack of scoring, Sanchez feels that his side is ready for qualifying.
"This is a team that has a strong mentality," he said. "We have a high level of talent and will compete. We still need some work but we are going to work to be ready for the competition. We want to be able to put together as many points as possible so that we can reach the semifinals, where we will be able to punch our ticket to the Olympics."
Baxter agreed. "Technically, they're very gifted but I don't they hurt you as much as they should with that technique," he said. "Sometimes, they need to buckle down a little down a little bit and concentrate on the game. I admire their skill and movements.
"I think they'll do well in the Olympics and am sure they'll go through the qualifiers," Baxter said. "After that, I'm not sure how far they'll go. With a good draw and them starting to gel a little more, I imagine that they'll do well."
However, Sanchez admits that his team still has a number of things to work on.
"These are games where you have to learn how to make adjustments," he said. "Our focus is on how the team is working and playing. We are a difficult team to beat but we need to work on being more effective. That is something we are working on."
Mexico opens Olympic qualifying on March 12 against Canada at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. (8 p.m.). Their group also contains Haiti and Guatemala; the top two from each of the two groups advance to the semifinals, with the winners of those matches gaining berths to the Beijing Games.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
