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Snap Judgments: Mexico vs. Ireland (International Friendly, 06.01.17)

Robert Cole/ALOST
It was a good night for the Mexican National Team in front of a partisan crown in the shadows of New York City as they get ready for a couple of crucial World Cup Qualifying games next week. (Robert Cole/ALOST)
It was a good night for the Mexican National Team in front of a partisan crown in the shadows of New York City on Thursday as they get ready for crucial World Cup Qualifying games next week. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

 

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Though it stated that last night’s matchup between Mexico and Ireland was a friendly, it may have a massive impact as both teams get ready for critical contests in the next two weeks.

The Mexican National Team continued its latest tour of the United States as it took on The Boys in Green in the shadow of New York City, with “El Tri” putting on a better performance than it did in its loss in a friendly against Croatia in Los Angeles last Saturday by defeating the Irish 3-1. Jesús Corona and Raúl Jimenez scored in the first half to give the Mexicans a 2-0 lead at the break before Carlos Vela scored on a tap-in early in the second half to open up a 3-0 lead. In one week’s time, Mexico will be back at home and playing two crucial games in the final round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying: against Honduras on June 8 and then against the United States at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on June 11. Mexico is atop “The Hex” with 10 points after four games played, with the top three teams after this final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying automatically gaining entry to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez did not make an appearance in last night’s contest, though his next cap will be his first game since becoming Mexico’s all-time leading goalscorer, scoring his 47th career goal for his country in the loss to Croatia.

As for the Irish, they will head across the Atlantic and back to the Emerald Isle to prepare for their UEFA World Cup Qualifying match against Austria on June 11. In its World Cup qualifying campaign, Ireland sits in second place in Group D, tied with Serbia atop the Group with 11 points. (Serbia currently holds the tiebreaker.) The nine group winners in Europe qualify for the FIFA World Cup, with the top eight second-place teams moving on to a two-legged playoff to try and qualify at the expense of another of those second-place squads.

As always, our photographer, Robert Cole, is on the pitch snapping quality pictures, this time from the home of the New York Giants. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures.

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