Goals: Croatia—Perisic 87'; México—Márquez 73' Guardado 75' Hernandez 82'
Recap: Not even controversy could keep Mexico from reaching the Round of 16, seeing the team capture a 3-1 victory over Croatia on Monday.
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A towering header from captain Rafael Marquez opened the affair for El Tri in the 73rd minute. Just 120 seconds later, Andres Guardado doubled the advantage. Croatia would eventually pull one back in the dying minutes of the match, but any chance of a comeback dissipated with Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez's simple header in the 82nd.
Mexico advances to the Round of 16 as the Group A runner-up.
Key Moment: Referee Ravshan Irmatov didn't just miss one obvious handball, he missed two. The most glaring came in the 64th minute. A blistering shot was saved by Croatia's Darijo Srna in the box. One issue: As a right-back, Srna isn't exactly allowed to parry shots safe with his arms. He did just that, and Irmatov was too incompetent to point to the spot. Mexico would eventually find the winner, but poor officiating continues to be the narrative of the 2014 World Cup.
Man of the Match: One goal, one assist and five effective clearances. The award belongs to captain Rafa Marquez.
Lesson Learned: Miguel Herrera was the savior. After a troubling qualification campaign, the former Club America manager stepped in and rejuvenated the Mexican program. El Tri went from a team that only managed to win two matches in the final round of qualifying, to advancing to the Round of 16 without defeat.
Up Next: Croatia returns home to prepare for the 2016 European cup, while Mexico travels to Fortaleza to face Holland on June 29.
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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