Mexico masters Jamaica
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from October 1996.
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Striker Carlos Hermosillo, who has been left in the cold by his country despite a prolific scoring record in domestic soccer, scored the winner in the CONCACAF semifinal group three match the Mexicans could not afford to lose.
The result put Mexico level on points and goal difference with Jamaica, who won their first two games, with Honduras trailing the two on goal difference.
Jamaica has never qualified for a soccer World Cup before.
Coach Bora Milutinovic, who led Mexico to the World Cup quarterfinals when the country hosted the tournament in 1986, recalled midfielder Benjamin Galindo and Brazilian-born striker Zague in the wake of the Honduras defeat.
Striker Luis Garcia, an automatic choice for years, was relegated to the substitute's bench.
The changes paid off with Galindo pulling the strings in midfielder and Zague firing Mexico in front with a well-taken goal in the 41st minute following a move involving Galindo and Hermosillo.
Galindo set up a chance that was wasted by Pavel Pardo at the start of the second half before supplying the corner from which Hermosillo headed Mexico's second goal in the 53rd minute to the delight of a 100,000 crowd at Aztec stadium.
