On this evidence Saudi Arabia must feel quietly confident about their chances of winning a thoroughly intriguing, expectation-confounding Group C. Mexico and Poland arrived at this most futuristic arena on the edge of the Arabian Sea after the startling news that Argentina had been beaten by the Saudis. Poland in particular, played much of this match as if still in shock.
Although Mexico were the better side, they struggled to conjure clearcut openings and had what is destined to become known as one of the great World Cup saves by Guillermo Ochoa to keep out Robert Lewandowski’s second-half penalty.
In deceiving Poland’s captain courtesy of a magnificent goalkeeping dummy before defying the usual constraints of physics and gravity to keep the ball out Ochoa earned Mexico a deserved point.
It means the man called “Lewangoalski” is still to score at a World Cup finals and Poland’s chances of progressing to the knock-out stages for the first time in 36 years have receded.
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It is unusual, if not unique, to attend a football ground identified by a number rather than a name, but 974 shipping containers were used to build Stadium 974. Perhaps coincidentally, that trio of numerals form the international dialling code for Qatar.
From the outside, a structure scheduled to be repurposed for wider community use is an edgy, arresting piece of architecture and inside it was hugely atmospheric. Mexico is 9,000 miles from Qatar but 974 was a sea of green with most of the noise generated by their fans. Poland must have felt it was an away game.
With Poland either content to weather the early storm or simply powerless to interrupt it, chances were rare with a decent one not arriving until nearly the half-hour mark.
It began with Héctor Herrera crossing and Alexis Vega outleaping Aston Villa’s Matty Cash – who, despite being born in Slough, has a Polish grandparent – at the far post. From around six yards out Vega sent a header bouncing fractionally wide.
Lewandowski had a peripheral role. Admittedly, the best strikers can quite often spend the bulk of matches drifting on the margins only to come alive and score in those vital, game-changing, split-second moments but, as the interval approached, Poland’s record scorer had touched the ball on a handful of occasions – significantly just once in Mexico’s area – and unleashed one, uncharacteristically underwhelming shot.
Was the heavily shadowed striker feeling the pressure, patiently biding his time or possibly a bit of both? Certainly his room for manoeuvre seemed severely restricted during an opening 45 minutes when his side failed to record a shot on target.
It did not help his cause that his team-mates were persistently dropping so deep, thereby starving him of the service he needs in order to sprinkle his magic over proceedings. If only Poland had felt brave enough to press a little higher up the pitch it might have been different.
If Lewandowski failed to impress, Henry Martín, Mexico’s central striker had also exerted limited influence as his side’s principal threat was delivered down the flanks. This lack of impact threatened to cost them dear when, early in the second half, Hector Moreno tugged Lewandowski’s shirt during the course of a tussle, collected a yellow card and, after a VAR review, conceded a penalty.
Lewandowski placed the ball on the spot and took a couple of deep breaths. His run-up looked a little nervous but he was aiming low for the bottom-right corner, out of the reach of most goalkeepers.
To the crowd’s considerable delight Guillermo Ochoa, a veteran of five World Cups, proved equal to the challenge. After deceiving Lewandowski by feinting as if he was diving to the left before acrobatically changing course in mid-air and throwing himself to the right, the goalkeeper extended a hand to palm the ball clear.
Not to be outdone Wojcieck Szczesny subsequently performed wonders to keep out Martín’s header. – Guardian
