They were held up by an electric storm but, after the skies had cleared, Mexico kept the lightning bolts coming. This was a climactic night that utterly engulfed the senses and its ramifications will be far reaching. El Tri have broken a hex that had nagged and gnawed at the nation’s football psyche across four decades, winning a World Cup knockout game for the first time since 1986, and the head turner will be the manner in which it happened. Javier Aguirre’s players cut Ecuador apart in a stunning first-half performance and, on this evidence, woe betide whoever runs into them next.
As it happens that will be England if they overcome the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The last-16 tie will take place on Sunday; it will be the last of this summer’s matches to take place in Mexico, whose co-hosting has felt dwarfed by the behemoth further north. So what a thrill that the Azteca, with all its majesty and mystery, delivered an occasion of genuinely epic quality here. The atmosphere roared, rocked and pulsated throughout. It was an evening that should, for a few days at least, shift the tournament’s focus to a hotbed that sits apart from the self-imposed sterility elsewhere.
It will certainly train the gaze on Gilberto Mora, the 17-year-old wunderkind who put in an astonishing performance. Mexico’s excellence in that opening period stemmed largely from the range and scope Mora provided them, his brain a step ahead of the rest and his quick feet opening up the pitch. He was impossible to handle from his perch on the right side of a midfield three, bringing the house down upon being wrapped in cotton wool with half an hour left.
Mora was able to shine despite ferocious weather that postponed kick-off for an hour. If anything, the extended wait served to heighten the expectation. This awesome concrete bowl, for which nothing can truly prepare a first-time visitor, seemed to hold in the thunder as it roared from above. One felt for the thousands back in the city centre, who had started gathering along Paseo de la Reforma well before midday. They had no chance of staying dry but before long that barely seemed relevant.
That was because, once play was cleared to begin, Mexico were irresistible. They had been more efficient than exhilarating during the group stage but this time the handbrake was off, Mora stitching patterns with Roberto Alvarado on the right, shooting just wide with a curler and benefiting from the balance offered by Luis Romo.
They swarmed for the first 15 minutes, overcoming an isolated warning when John Yeboah struck the outside of a post, and a breakthrough felt inevitable. It arrived thrillingly when the left-back Jésus Gallardo, finding Julián Quiñones just inside his own half and onside, clipped him into gaping space. As Ecuador’s defence sought to recover Quiñones scorched towards the box and, working the ball on to his right foot, hammered it into the roof of Hernán Galíndez’s net.
Cue pandemonium: an uncorking of belief Mexico could perform with a level of emphasis to grace the stage. Number two came from a player more than double Mora’s age. Raul Jiménez, 35 and counting, had earlier missed the kind of header he usually gobbles. This time he benefited from a fudged clearance by Joel Ordóñez, swapping passes with Quiñones before smacking unstoppably past Galíndez.
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It was enough for a win laden with meaning for Aguirre. Two of those previous early exits, in 2002 and 2010, had come during his earlier stints in charge. “I belong to that generation that hadn’t managed to take this step,” he said. “We are a family, a word that is hard to use in football. It is a match to remember for the fans, the atmosphere, and the setting. I’ve beaten great teams, but no victory compares to today’s, because it happened at home, with our own people.”
The Mexico keeper Raúl Rangel saved at full stretch from Yeboah before the interval, meaning Aguirre could watch his team manage the second period in comfort. Ecuador’s best chance came through the substitute Kevin Rodríguez, who poked wide, and the Arsenal defender Piero Hincapié was dismissed for violating modern mouth-covering rules in added time.
Hincapié and his teammates, who had shown such promise in overhauling Germany, had little to shout about. Perhaps they could point to a frayed preparation. Several hundred Mexican fans had burned the midnight oil outside their hotel and it had been enough for their FA to lodge an indignant complaint with Fifa. In reality they have been around the block long enough to expect a commotion, although a delayed journey to the stadium may not have settled any nerves.
Aguirre, who became a grandfather for the third time on Monday, said he was desperate for a post-match scotch to calm himself down. He was ready to spring up for a morning in front of the television assessing what comes next. “I’ll watch the game, so will some of my staff,” he said of England’s meeting with DR Congo. “It’s not up to us to choose. We need to stay sharp between now and Sunday to maintain this momentum and see if we can put in a performance as complete as today’s.” Mexico might just become contenders if they do.
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