Guillermo Ochoa is no stranger to showing out on the World Cup stage, and he did it again on Tuesday.
The Mexico goalkeeper saved Robert Lewandowski’s penalty kick in the second half of what wound up being a 0–0 draw in both teams’ opening match in Qatar. Ochoa, who earned global acclaim for his play in 2014 in another 0–0 draw, against host Brazil, was tremendous throughout, and both sides walk away with a point. That leaves Saudi Arabia the shocking leader atop Group C after one game, following a surprise 2–1 win over clear favorite Argentina earlier in the day.
The presumption entering the World Cup was that Argentina, which entered on a 36-match unbeaten streak, would coast by the Saudis at the very least, placing additional pressure on Mexico and Poland to win their head-to-head matchup. But with Argentina falling, both sides are slightly ahead of Messi & Co. as they build toward advancement—with Mexico seeking an eighth straight spot in the round of 16 (it has fallen in each of the last seven World Cups at that stage).
Despite injury questions and concerns of form entering Tuesday’s game, Mexico started with plenty of pace, controlling the tempo while Poland looked to strike on the counterattack. In the fifth minute, Hirving Lozano roamed the wing and sent in a dangerous chance that found Alexis Vega at the back post, but Vega was unable to put a proper touch on it.
Héctor Moreno had a quality chance for Mexico in the 14th minute when he rose for an open header, but he sent the chance over the ball and was later called for offside.
Vega came close to giving El Tri the lead in the 26th minute when Héctor Herrera sent a dangerous looping cross into the area for Vega to head, but the header just fell wide of the far post.
Neither side managed to log a shot on target throughout much first half although there was plenty of action. By the 44th minute, Mexico fans serenaded El Tri with chants of “Olé” as the team passed around Poland.
But in the 45th minute, Jorge Sánchez notched the first shot on target with an effort that seemed to surprise Poland keeper Wojciech Szczęsny, although the Juventus star was able to push the chance over the crossbar.
The second half continued with more of the same, with Lozano seeking out Sánchez in the Poland box and earning a corner. Szczęsny was forced to come off his line to make an aggressive punch to clear the danger, while on the ensuing attack, the goalkeeper was again called into action, with Lozano attempting a long-range chance that landed on target but was right at the Polish backstop in the 52nd minute.
Robert Lewandowski had endured a quiet match up until the 54th minute, when he created some danger in the Mexico box and went down under pressure by Moreno, as both tussled for possession in face of the on-rushing Ochoa. The play was reviewed for a possible penalty. Referee Chris Beath went to the pitchside monitor and called for the penalty despite the 50-50 nature of the play, giving Lewandowski the chance to score from the spot. Ochoa was up to the task, however, diving to his left and denying Lewandowski with a strong save.
It was Szczęsny’s turn to come up big in the 63rd minute, with Henry Martin’s flicked-on header after Edson Álvarez’s assist forcing the Polish goalkeeper into a reactionary save, which he executed to perfection.
Mexico’s introduction of Raúl Jiménez didn’t quite spark the attack as Tata Martino would have liked, with the forward, who is still on his way back from injury struggles, flailing on the one instance in which he was played in behind the Poland back line.
Jiménez did cleverly play Uriel Antuna in down the right-hand side in stoppage time, but his touch let him down and Poland was able to clear the danger rather easily.
As time wound down, Poland looked to have a promising attack building on the counter, but Grzegorz Krychowiak opted to try to beat Ochoa from long range, and his 30-yard blast went wide of the mark.
Final-third proficiency ultimately let down both sides, and while they’ll take the point, they could be left to rue not getting more out of a day when Argentina’s vulnerability showed itself.
