MOSCOW _ They played the game on the banks of the Moscow River, but given the noise, the waves of green Mexican national team jerseys and multi-colored sombreros and the loud pregame rendition of "Cielito Lindo," Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday might as well have been Estadio Azteca.
Thursday's World Cup opener was played in a library compared with the atmosphere at Sunday's Mexico-Germany game. And the majority of the 75,000-plus fans went home happy with Hirving Lozano's first-half goal and Guillermo Ochoa's eight saves in goal giving Mexico a 1-0 victory.
It was a result that made history in more ways than one. Germany, the World Cup champion, had never lost the first match of a title defense while Mexico had never beaten a reigning team.
And when Rafael Marquez came on in the 74th minute, he made history too, tying a record by playing in his fifth World Cup.
The game started like a title fight, with both sides trading body blows in a manic first half in which the teams combined for 18 shots. The only time the ball was in midfield was when it was passing through to either end.
Mexico came out fast with Lozano, who had a great game, breaking into the 18-yard box in the first minute. But his right-footed shot from the left side was turned away. Then, in the 14th minute, Miguel Layun's free kick into the box found Hector Moreno, whose header was saved on a nice play by German keeper Manuel Neuer.
Germany answered with a pair of opportunities from Timo Werner _ the first in the third minute when Werner ran onto a pass in the penalty area only to steer his shot wide, and the other three minutes later when he turned on a ball at the top of the box but lined a weak shot right at Ochoa in the center of the goal.
It wouldn't be the last time Ochoa came up big. In the 16th minute, Julian Draxler's right-footed shot from distance was saved, and seconds later, the busy keeper went to a knee to stop a shot from Toni Kross, who tested him again shortly afterward, this time with left-footed shot from about 19 yards.
Then the actions swung back to the other end with Layun sending a shot toward the center of the net that Neuer gobbled up. And on it went, with neither side backing down and neither side quitting.
But as the half wore on, Germany wore down and Mexico finally broke through in the 35th minute on a counterattack that ended with Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez pushing the ball forward for Lozano breaking into the box. Germany's Mesut Ozil caught Lozano from behind so the Mexican pulled the ball back with his left foot, spun around Ozil and put a hard-footed right-footed shot in at the near post. It was just the second goal Mexico had scored in five games since March 24, equaling its worst offensive drought in four years.
Germany came with inches of pulling that goal back when Kross smacked the cross bar with a free kick from about 25 yards to end the half.
In the second half, Mexico missed three chances to put the game away, the first coming early when Hernandez and Carlos Vela pushed deep into the German end with only defender Jerome Boateng between them. But Hernandez's pass was a bit too long and the opportunity was lost. In the final 15 minutes, Layun missed twice, driving a shot well over the crossbar on the first chance and bending a right-footed side wide on the second.
And that gave Germany, which had a nearly 2-to-1 lead in terms of possession, hope. But the Germans, who had 24 shots, couldn't finish any of those chances as Ochoa and the exhausted Mexican defense struggled to hold on.
