World Cup 2014: Mexico taught the world how to defend against Brazil

Brazil and Mexico played out 0-0 draw on Tuesday, but while there were no goals there was plenty of entertainment on offer in Fortaleza. The Brazilians started the match well, but Mexico had a plan to make it hard for their rivals and executed it to perfection — aided by the brilliance of their goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. As Brazil’s energy faded, Mexico went on the attack from the distance — and while they may not have been successful in scoring, they certainly taught the rest of the world how to defend against the hosts. [caption id=“attachment_1575721” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The Mexicans executed their game plan to perfection against Brazil. AP[/caption] Here are three things from Brazil vs Mexico: Don’t try to be smart against Brazil: The fewer the touches you take, the more more direct you pass, the quicker the transitions you make and the faster you clear the ball from danger areas will annoy the opposition attackers and keep the ball out of the defending half. Let’s compare Croatia and Mexico and how they defended against Brazil. Croatia cleared the ball 43 times compared to Mexico’s 27. Despite these clearances, Croatia spend a whopping 38% of the match in their defending half while Mexico spent only 32% — explained by either Croatia’s need to pass in their own half and fail to clear their lines leading to so many clearance attempts.  Mexico’s touches and action areas Mexico were successful in one more area — cutting down supply from the right. And this is probably the most important. Dani Alves coming from the right is one of Brazil’s biggest threats. But he was shut off so well that Oscar had to be shifted from left to right in the second half. What Mexico did was push Brazil to the middle of the pitch. Against Croatia, they spent 29% on the right, 24.51% on the left and just 46.55% in the middle. Against Mexico, Brazil spent 23.5% on the right flank, 25.47% on the left and nearly 51% through the middle. With Neymar, Oscar, Marcelo and Alves all wide players — it made sense to squeeze Brazil and force play through the less creative Paulinho, Luiz Gustavo and Ramires.  Brazil action areas by flanks 11 men attack, 11 men defend: “We spoke with (Brazil coach) Scolari, and he said Mexico for them is like a stone in their shoe. We’re hoping to be like a rock, not a stone,” Mexico coach Miguel Herrera said post-match. Herrera’s philosophy is simple — 11 men attack, 11 men defend — and his team reflected this. Striker Oribe Peralta made five tackles in the game (two successful) — these are more than centre-back Rafa Marquez who made four. Every player made at least three challenges and six different players created chances (out of these, two creators were defenders). Five different players sent in 15 crosses, six different players played eight key passes and seven players contributed 13 shots. Out of Brazil’s 12 chances, Neymar and Thiago Silva alone were responsible for six of them. As for tackling, only five Brazilians made successful challenges. There are only two reasons this could happen — either you have a team where every player is capable of doing everything (like Germany) or you have the perfect roster for a 5-3-2 philosophy. As for Mexico, they’ve got the latter.  Mexico’s shots - 13 shots from seven different players Tackle them in the box: It’s not everyday that Brazil’s two best attackers Neymar and Oscar are going to get their shots on target from distance and score. Against Croatia, Neymar’s attempt was slightly scuffed while Oscar’s was an example of artistic shooting — but Brazil are a team which will hurt you inside the box. Dani Alves, Marcelo, Neymar, Oscar and Fred are all good in tight areas and can make the most of challenges as you saw in the opening match. However, Mexico were fearless in their challenges when it came to making them in the penalty box. Of their 13 successful challenges, five came in the box (on Oscar, Paulinho, Dani Alves, Fred and Neymar). If you’re going to beat these fleet-footed Brazilians, you’ve got to get your tackles right in the box.  Mexico’s successful challenges – five came in the box.