Herrera praises Ochoa’s ‘inspirational’ performance

Mexico coach hails goalkeeper after stalemate with hosts Brazil.

FORTALEZA: Mexico coach Miguel Herrera admitted that he had never seen a better goalkeeping display at the World Cup than that by Guillermo Ochoa in his side’s 0-0 draw with Brazil on Wednesday.

Ochoa’s heroics helped Mexico frustrate the tournament hosts in Fortaleza and left El Tri needing just a point to qualify for the last 16.

And Herrera acknowledged that even ‘Memo’ Ochoa’s great compatriot Jorge Campos, the flamboyant ‘keeper of the 1990s, never produced such a decisive performance at the very highest level.

“In my memory I can’t remember a ‘keeper who performed like that in a World Cup,” said Herrera.



“Campos was great but Ochoa gave the security to the team which we needed at the back; he was inspirational.

“I had to select a first-choice keeper. It was never in my mind to start changing. I sat down with my backroom staff and my goalkeeping coach [Jose Torruco].

“It wasn’t that the other two did not look solid but we decided that Ochoa looked just a tiny bit better than them.”

Mexico’s solid start to the tournament means that, regardless of what happens in Wednesday’s meeting of Croatia and Cameroon in Manaus, a draw against the Croats in Recife on Monday, June 23, will take them into the last 16.

I am satisfied, says Scolari

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said that the World Cup hosts had reason to be satisfied with their performance against Mexico.

“In my opinion – it’s my own, not that of the critics – the team played better than they did against Croatia,” he said.

“There was at least an extra 10% than what there was against Croatia.

“The team has evolved. We can still improve, but we can still qualify for the next round. We showed quality, so I am satisfied.”

The Selecao struggled to break down the Mexican backline at the Castelao Stadium, and when they did they came undone against inspired goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who made three stunning saves, two to deny Neymar and one from a late Thiago Silva header.

But Scolari was bullish in front of the press, emphasising that Brazil remain on course to qualify for the last-16, with the Mexico draw following their opening 3-1 win against Croatia in Sao Paulo.

The reaction of the players was good: Russia coach

Russia coach Fabio Capello was adamant goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev’s blunder during their 1-1 draw against South Korea was overlooked, as the Italian was satisfied with the team’s performance.

“You can accept a mistake from a great keeper like Akinfeev,” said Capello. “Today [Wednesday] it turned out fine.

“The reaction of the players was good,” added the Italian when asked about the Korean goal. “That was important to me.”

Alexander Kerzhakov rescued Russia in their first World Cup finals match since 2002, scoring three minutes after coming on as substitute to salvage the draw.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2014.

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