A substitution, a water break, a penalty: How Mexico lost to the Netherlands

For 88 minutes, Mexico were revelling in the possibility of causing one of the biggest upsets of World Cup 2014 by beating the Netherlands. But three decisions completely changed the match and the Los Manitos ended up losing 1-2, eliminated from the Last 16 for the fifth World Cup in a row. [caption id=“attachment_1595011” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  For 88 minutes, Mexico were revelling in the possibility of causing one of the biggest upsets of World Cup 2014. AP[/caption] Taking Dos Santos off: Giovani dos Santos was Mexico’s most potent attacking threat and taking him off for the less mobile and more withdrawn Javier Aquino gave the Dutch confidence that their opponents were retreating into a defensive shell. Up until that point, Mexico were dictating play through the trio of Dos Santos, Hector Herrera and Oribe Peralta. But after the 60th minute, they decided that a 1-0 lead was enough and it was time to absorb pressure. Mexico vs Netherlands in 60 minutes: Nine shots to Netherlands’ four, eight chances created to Netherlands’ two, 13 take-ons to six, 27 percent tackling success compared to 13 percent, 10 clearances compared to 22 the Dutch made and just one save for Guillermo Ochoa.  Mexico shots in 60 minutes. After this, they attempted only one. Mexico vs Netherlands from 61st minute to end of match: One shot to Netherlands’ nine, one chance created to Netherlands’ seven, four crosses to 17, six take-ons to 10, 20 percent tackling success rate to 50 percent the Dutch could boast of, 16 clearances to 14 and two saves for Ochoa compared to none for Cillessen. It was a tactical error — instead of finishing the game up or pressing the Dutch for the rest of the match, Mexico just left too much to chance. The water break: Four minutes before Dos Santos was removed, Louis van Gaal threw on Memphis Depay and removed right wing-back Paul Verhaegh. One, it pushed Miguel Herrera to ask his team to get more defensive and two, Netherlands got width with Arjen Robben pushed to the right and Depay on the left. Wesley Sneijder and Klaas Jan Huntelaar both pushed up as forwards with Robin Van Persie coming off later. Van Gaal asked reporters after the match: “Did you see what I did? I first changed to a 4-3-3 and then we created a lot of opportunities with a shot on the post and a fantastic save from Guillermo Ochoa. Then I moved to plan B and yes, I did that in the cooling break that is a clever way of benefiting from these breaks.” So Van Gaal changed his tactics during the cooling break with 15 minutes to go, saying that he asked his players to ping long balls into the forward line. In these 15 minutes alone, Netherlands created three chances and took four shots, two of them goals. It was a tactical masterstroke from Van Gaal, who had by then sensed the urgency in Mexico to get the ball out of the area as soon as possible — meaning that getting it back in the area as soon as possible would eventually result in a mistake.  Netherlands passes in last 15 minutes The penalty: Robben had not found much space through the middle, attempting only two take-ons and two crosses in 50 minutes of play — an incredibly poor number for a player who depends on his dribbling and parallel passing to create havoc in danger areas. As soon as he was moved to the right after Netherlands conceded, Robben started taking on men (5/6 take-ons successful, 11 crosses attempted) and getting in key areas where a pass could split open Mexico’s tight defence. He had been looking for a clumsy foul in the box throughout the game and Rafael Marquez’ tired legs finally made a half-hearted attempt to steal the ball from him in a situation that didn’t really require it. The fall was theatrical and there was minimal contact, but it’s hard for the referee to make a quick decision in real time when most people are still divided over whether it was a penalty or not despite seeing replays from multiple angles.  Robben take-ons from 51st minute to end of match Talking point: There’s a huge discussion over the meaning of water or cooling breaks in football. One side of the argument is that this has permanently changed football and one would rather have time-outs to give instructions which may affect the team. Purists will say that the continuous flow of football is what makes it so exciting but only the harshest conditions demand such breaks and as for instructions, both managers had equal time to give them.