The Mexico national team defeated Suriname 2–0 to secure a place in the 2025 Gold Cup quarterfinals, in a match where the result is the bright spot in an otherwise rocky El Tri performance.
After narrowly escaping with a victory in the inaugural match of the Gold Cup vs. the Dominican Republic, El Tri needed to answer with a convincing display against Suriname. Yet, during the opening 45 minutes, Mexico did anything but.
Javier Aguirre's side struggled mightily, failing to find the breakthrough whilst also having a couple of scary moments in defense. El Tri dominated possession, but looked lost and clueless whenever they made it to the final third. With an old-fashioned 4-4-2 formation, Mexico looked like a slow and antiquated side, incapable of finding solutions against an at best modest defensive line.
Things didn't get much better for Mexico in the second half, still, Aguirre's side found a breakthrough via a César Montes header in the 57th minute, scoring his second goal of the 2025 Gold Cup. Six minutes later, Montes won in the air again from a corner and tucked in his own rebound to secure his brace. Four of Mexico's five goals in the competition have come from corners.
The pair of goals helped El Tri settle down and control the game until the final whistle, even missing clear chances to add a third to adorn the final score. The victory sees Mexico climb to the top of Group A, clinching a birth in the quarterfinals and setting up a winner-takes-the-group clash vs. Costa Rica on Sunday night.
Although the reigning champions secured another win, the performance was unconvincing and leaves more questions than answers. Results support Aguirre so far, but the level shown by El Tri in their first two games won't be enough against stronger opponents come the knockout rounds of the tournament.
Player ratings from Mexico's win below.
Suriname Player Ratings (4-2-3-1)
Mexico Player Ratings vs. Suriname (4-4-2)
Player of the Match: César Montes (Mexico)
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Suriname 0–2 Mexico: Player Ratings From Another Uninspiring El Tri Victory.
