Unlike in their opening match against Korea Republic, Fiji showed a desire and intent to play forward and they were rewarded for their tactical shift on 10 minutes.
Skipper Roy Krishna opened the scoring for the islanders when he ran onto a long ball from Iosefo Verevou and found the net with a header. Mexico goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera came out of the edge of his penalty area and was unable to stop Krishna’s effort from finding the net.
The crowd at the Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador were clearly in support of Fiji, who were the underdogs going up against the London 2012 gold medallists. Fiji were able to hold on to their lead going into half-time.
However, it was a much different picture in the second half. Mexico needed just three minutes to score the equaliser when Erick Gutierrez tapped in from close range from Marco Bueno’s cut-back assist.
Gutierrez then went on to score two more quickfire goals. His second came after beautiful interplay from Jose Abella and Oribe Peralta, while the Pachuca man’s third was not as aesthetically pleasing. Carlos Cisneros played the ball into the box to Gutierrez, who fell to the ground while striking the ball but his effort still found the back of the net.
Mexico then made it 4-1 thanks to Carlos Salcedo after a corner kick. Gutierrez then matched Oghenekaro Etebo’s feat of scoring four goals in one match at the tournament, when he finished a beautiful solo run by lifting the ball over Tamanisau to cap off a 5-1 win.
Story courtesy of FIFA.com

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