MEXICO 1-1 SPAIN, Mexico City, 11/08/10
Hernandez 12 (Mexico); Silva 90+ (Spain)
A priceless last-gasp strike from substitute David Silva retained the UFWC title for Spain when it looked certain that Mexico would steal their crown.
New Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez scored after 12 minutes, and Mexico looked to be the most likely to win the game, until the fourth official indicated that there would be four minutes of stoppage time at the end. Up popped Manchester City winger Silva, with 93 minutes on the clock, to score a vital equaliser.
The game was played to commemorate 200 years since the start of the war of independence between Mexico and Spain. Oddly, Mexico went into the match without a permanent coach, with Enrique Meza re-appointed for this game only, following the resignation of Javier Aguirre.
Hernandez, or 'Chicharito', lined up alongside Arsenal's Carlos Vela in the Mexico attack. David Villa was left on the bench for Spain, with Fernando Llorente leading the attack. Cesc Fabregas had a couple of scoring opportunities for Spain, but, after going ahead through Hernandez, Mexico could easily have increased their lead through Giovani Dos Santos.
The second half was more about substitutions than goal scoring chances, with Mexico's temporary coach Meza and Spain's Vicente del Bosque making 13 changes between them. One of those changes saw Silva replace Mata. Mexico created a handful of decent efforts towards the end of the game, but Spain had more of the possession, and there were no further goals until injury time, when Silva equalised to make it 1-1.
Exactly one month after Spain beat the Netherlands to unify both the official WC and unofficial UFWC titles, the Spanish have seen off their first challengers. The next match will see them travel to Liechtenstein on 3 September to defend the UFWC title in a European qualifier.
We'll have more reaction to this result, and build-up to the next match, here soon.
