3 Thoughts: Mexico 1-0 Bolivia

Mexico managed to defeat Bolivia 1-0 at Soldier Field on Friday evening despite using a squad of most U23 players against their Bolivian counterparts.

My 3 thoughts from the match:

First Senior Goal

Efraín Álvarez scored his first senior goal for Mexico in the 47th minute, hitting a lovely shot across the face of goal after a delightful feed from Ricardo Monreal.

Mexico desperately needed that goal after going the entire first half without truly testing Bolivia goalkeeper Carlos Lampe.

Álvarez joined LA Galaxy II when he was 15 and competed for them in the USL Championship before making the jump to Major League Soccer and, now, Tijuana in Liga MX. Who knows if he will feature regularly for Jaime Lozano’s squad, but he managed to create the lone moment of brilliance at Soldier Field and it was enough to give his side the victory.

Bolivia Has Some Serious Young Talent

Bolivia wasn’t able to break through and score against Mexico despite having better chances in the match. There were some players who excelled, most notably attacking midfielder Miguel Terceros.

The 20-year-old who plays his club football with Santos FC in Brazil played the entire match, completed 34/36 passes (nine in the final third), had 66 touches, five recoveries, and two interceptions, and won five ground duels, per data from Fotmob . He’s one of the bright spots on the squad for head coach Antônio Carlos Zago’s Bolivian side.

“He’s one of Bolivia’s best young players,” Zago said post-match through a translator. “He plays at Santos and we also have [Enzo] Monteiro playing there, who just made his debut.

“Miguel needs just a little more experience. He needs to get a little more time at Santos. He has a good head on his shoulders off the field, which is important as he keeps on improving.”

False Advertising?

This match was marketed as an opportunity for Chicago soccer fans to see the Mexican National Team. They ended up bringing a youth squad instead as eight players made their senior debuts with the national team at Soldier Field.

Chicago soccer fans have a right to be annoyed about this and they should have been warned about it ahead of time. If you’re going to advertise an event by having big-name players as the selling point, they better play.

This isn’t the first time this has happened to Chicago in the last year. Gaga Slonina didn’t play for Chelsea in his hometown when they played Borussia Dortmund last season. United States Men’s National Team regular didn’t feature for Crystal Palace when they played Colombian side Millonarios at SeatGeek Stadium last summer. And who could forget the chaos that was the Inter Miami match that Lionel Messi didn’t even travel for despite being listed on the availability report as questionable?

At a certain point, the promoters putting on these events need to be honest or fans are going to start waiting until the lineups are released to see if they want to attend.

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