Controversy between Mexico and Wolverhampton by Raúl Jiménez 3:19
(Reuters) -
Mexico's national soccer team kicked off its path to the 2022 World Cup on Thursday with a long-suffering and agonizing 2-1 victory over its Jamaican counterpart with a goal from Henry Martin in the last minute.
Alexis Vega scored the other goal for Mexico, while Shamar Nicholson did it for the Jamaicans.
"Very happy to be able to help the team, that is why we are here. We knew that the game would be very close, with few goal plays that we had to make, the important thing is that we started with a win at home," Martín told the TUDN network .
In the match, which was played without fans at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City due to a FIFA sanction for controversial shouting, the local team had the first clear goal option in the 25th minute, but Rogelio Funes Mori sent a deflection his shot despite being unmarked in front of the goal after a center sent by Jorge Sánchez from the right sector.
(Photo by ALFREDO ESTRELLA / AFP via Getty Images)
Mexico opened the scoring in the 50th minute when Vega hit the ball past the right post with a shot from outside the area.
The team led by Argentina's Gerardo "Tata" Martino missed another clear option to score in the 63rd minute when Roberto Alvarado smashed his shot off the left post despite going unmarked in front of goal.
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Two minutes later, Jamaica leveled when Nicholson took advantage of a poor clearance by Sánchez to finish with a powerful shot inside the area.
When it seemed that Jamaica would draw a valuable and surprising draw, Martín scored the winning goal for Mexico in the 89th minute with a shot from the left corner after a slight deflection by goalkeeper Andre Blake.
Other results
In the other games of the tie, Honduras drew a 1-1 draw from their visit to Canada.
In the match played at BMO Field in Montreal, the Honduran team took the lead in the 40th minute with a penalty scored by Alex López.
The local team drew at 65 minutes by way of a penalty kick converted by Cyle Larin.
The Central American representative came close to winning in the 74th minute with a Brayan Moya header that crashed into the left post.
Meanwhile, Panama and Costa Rica drew goalless in a game that had few offensive options from both teams.
El Salvador and the United States also drew 0-0.
On the next round of the tie, which will be played on Sunday, Mexico will visit Costa Rica, Jamaica will be local to Panama, El Salvador will play again at home against Honduras, and the United States will host Canada.
The first three of the Concacaf octagonal qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.
The fourth will have to play an intercontinental playoff in June 2022.
Concacaf