Mexico Beats France, 4-1; Second Half Goals Save Mexican Soccer Team

The 2012 Olympic men's soccer gold medalist team, Mexico, unfolded its Olympic campaign with a statement, overpowering France, 4-1, orchestrating a second-half run Thursday at Tokyo Stadium.

A Statement Game

According to The New York Times, the 2012 titleholder, Mexico displayed their arsenal early at Tokyo Games, showing that they could be the world champions once again. Mexico scored four second-half goals against the French team. Mexico made a statement at the opening game in Group A of the Tokyo Olympics men's soccer games by crushing France early at the tournament.

Alexis Vega opened the scoring barrage for Mexico after he nailed a header in the 46-minute mark of the match, courtesy of an assist cross from Diego Lainez, NBC Olympics reported.

The initial goal of Mexico was followed by other Mexican footballers. Sebastian Cordova avoided offside in his attack. Uriel Antuna's shot kissed the post, but it went in and touched the net for the Mexican's third goal. Erick Aguirre added goals after halftime, outclassing the French team, which featured two stars from Mexico's Liga MX in their lineup.

One of them was André-Pierre Gignac, who scored on a penalty kick in the 69-minute mark after Randal Kolo Muani was scythed down in the Mexican box. The Mexican goalkeeper tried to stop Gignac's attack, but the French star nailed it.

The 35-year-old striker, Gignac, who has played more than 200 matches since 2015 for the Mexican Club Tigres, played in the Olympics as one of France's three overaged players. On Thursday's match, Gignac was a bit unhappy. Despite being vocal on the field, the striker did not make his presence felt throughout the match.

During the match, Gignac chatted with other Mexican players in Spanish while also challenging his teammates in French. At one point, Gignac also questioned the Australian referee's calls.

France's Medal Chances

Earlier this week, Gignac shared in an interview that the match against Mexico would be a special game for him because his sons were Mexicans and that made him excited about the opening match.

However, in the end, it was one of the matches that he probably would like to forget quickly after being nailed at 1 against 4 Mexican goals.

On the other hand, the soccer team of France could still advance at the tournament if they would display better performances against their group rivals South Africa and host Japan in its next two group A matches.

Mexico's thumping of France, which was a country popularly known for its strong youth teams, was not the only surprise in the opening soccer games. Spain, which had called in a handful of players from the senior team that advanced to the European Championship semifinals only a few weeks ago, was held a scoreless tie by the defensive-minded squad of Egypt in Sapporo.

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Written by Jess Smith

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