Mexico 1-1 Italy

June 13, 2002
AP

Written by Tom Rachman

OITA, Japan -- Mexico still has never beaten Italy -- but so what? The Mexicans got into the second round of the World Cup by tying them. And won the group, too.

An 85th-minute goal by substitute Alessandro Del Piero lifted Italy to a 1-1 draw on Thursday night, sending both teams into the second round.

Mexico, which won its first two games, finished on top of Group G and will play the runner-up from Group D -- either the United States, South Korea or Portugal. Italy was second at 1-1-1 and will play the top team from that division.

"It's very important to be No. 1 in the group, and I'm very satisfied with that,'' forward Jesus Arellano said.

"We wanted to beat Italy for the first time in Mexican history,'' midfielder Braulio Luna added. ``But we are happy to qualify for the next round in first place.''

Mexico is 0-6-4 vs. Italy, including 0-1-2 in the World Cup.

Ecuador defeated Croatia 1-0 in a match played simultaneously in Yokohama, eliminating the third-place team from 1998.

Del Piero, who came on in the second half, scored on a diving header off a pass from Vincenzo Montella, also a sub. And in the final minutes, with both sides assured moving on, they kicked the ball back and forth at midfield as the clock ticked down.

"If I had dreamed of anything in this game it would be this,'' Del Piero said. "Had we won, we would have been more tranquil, but the aim was to qualify and we made it.''

Mexico had the lead for much of the game after a brilliant 34th-minute header by striker Jared Borgetti.

Borgetti, running to his left, headed Cuauhtemoc Blanco's pass with his back to the net, and the ball landed in the far corner of the cage as goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon looked on in amazement.

Mexico nearly doubled its advantage in the 54th minute on some dazzling dribbling by Jesus Arellano. But the ball was cleared just before it crossed the line.

"We worked so hard that we deserved to win,'' Blanco said.

The Italians pressed on offense most of the night and had several good chances, but could never quite finish them off until Del Piero struck.

The best chance for the three-time champions came in the 19th minute. After taking a perfect setup from fellow forward Filippo Inzaghi, Francesco Totti shot just wide from inside the penalty area.

The Italians thought they had gone ahead in the 13th minute, but Inzaghi, inserted into Italy's starting lineup for this match, was flagged for being offside after putting a shot into the goal.

And in the 63rd minute, Italy had another goal called back after Montella was offside.

"The team always believed it could go through even after the loss against Croatia,'' Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni said.

Defender Fabio Cannavaro picked up his second yellow card of the tournament and will be disqualified from Italy's next match. Four other Italian players also received yellow cards in the game.

Italy defender Paolo Maldini broke German Uwe Seeler's record for most World Cup matches without being substituted, completing the full 90 minutes for the 22nd time.

Maldini, who made his 125th international appearance, is at his fourth World Cup. At 33, he has said this will be his last.
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