Previous Encounters:
Mexico and Angola had never met before the Germany 2006 World Cup Finals.
The Match:
In the opening minute, Mexico's Carlos Salcido lofted the ball onto the Angolan net and
that was very much a sign of things to come.
In the fourteenth minute, captain Rafael Marquez hit a free-kick
against the post otherwise most of the early play was stopped before it could flow,
through niggling fouls; twelve in the first thirty two minutes.
Guillermo Franco finally had a good chance to put Mexico ahead, just
before the break, but the ball didn't bounce right and it was shuffled away frantically.
Half-time: (0:0).
Ten minutes into the second half, Ricardo rushed off his line to
stretch out his arms and stop a Guillermo Franco lob; the Mexican's second attempt was
hooked off the line by Luis Delgado.
Angola started to look more accomplished in their build-up but just
missed out on the final ball; inches away from Akwa's head, on the hour.
Five minutes later, a mistake by Joao Jamba let in Omar Bravo, only
for Mexico to be foiled again by Ricardo.
Ricardo can look rather hopeless as well, especially when he comes out
to flap at a cross and falls helplessly to the ground instead of touching the ball.
The Angola trainer then decided to give Akwa a striking partner, when
he brought on Pedro Mantorras for Andre Mateus. Mexico followed with their own front-line
substitution, bringing on the popular Francisco Fonseca.
Still no goal with fifteen minutes to go.
Then Angola were reduced to ten men, when Andre Macanga received his
second yellow card, for needlessly sticking his hand out to stop the ball, with eleven
minutes left on the clock.
After earning himself a yellow card for time wasting, Joćo Ricardo
went on to make two excellent saves to keep successive Mexican shots out, as the clock
ticked down the final seconds.
Final Score:
Mexico 0 - Angola 0
Teams
Mexico: (Captain Rafael Marquez)
1 Oswaldo Sanchez; 3 Carlos Salcido, 4 Rafael Marquez, 5 Ricardo
Osorio, 16 Mario Mendez; 6 Gerardo Torrado, 7 Antonio Naelson, 8 Pavel
Pardo, 14 Gonzalo Pineda; 19 Omar Bravo, 10 Guillermo Franco.
Angola: (Captain Fabrice Akwa)
1 Pereira Joćo Ricardo; 3 Joao Jamba, 5 Carlos Kali, 20 Manuel Loco, 21 Luis Delgado; 7
Paulo Figueiredo, 8 Andre Macanga, 11 Andre Mateus, 14 Antonio Mendonca, 17 Jose Ze
Kalanga; 10 Fabrice Akwa.
Substitutions:
52 Mins (Mexico) - 21 Jesus Arellano on for 7 Antonio Naelson
68 Mins (Angola) - 9 Pedro Mantorras on for 11 Andre Mateus
72 Mins (Angola) - 15 Rui Marques on for 7 Paulo Figueiredo
74 Mins (Mexico) - 17 Francisco Fonseca on for 10 Guillermo Franco
78 Mins (Mexico) - 11 Ramon Morales on for 14 Gonzalo Pineda
83 Mins (Angola) - 6 Marcos Milloy on for 17 Jose Ze Kalanga
6 Yellow
Cards:
13 Mins - Luis Delgado (Angola)
44 Mins - Andre Macanga (Angola)
50 Mins - Jose Ze Kalanga (Angola)
59 Mins - Gonzalo Pineda (Mexico)
79 Mins - Andre Macanga (Angola)
86 Mins - Pereira Joćo Ricardo (Angola)
