Peralta strike gives Mexico narrow win over Cameroon

Natal (Brazil), June 14 (IANS) Peralta’s 61st minute strike gave Mexico a 1-0 victory over Cameroon in the first round of FIFA World Cup Group A match here Friday.

Three goals from both sides in the first half were all ruled offside. Mexico attacked fervently and had two goals wrongly ruled out, reports Xinhua.

Latest misdemeanours by the referees comes a day after Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura wrongly awarded Brazil a penalty that decided the opening match of the tournament against Croatia.

In pouring rain in the northeastern city of Natal, the wet pitch made passing slick and increased the pace of the game early on.

The tight first half saw two goals from Mexico and one goal from Cameroon disallowed by referee. But Mexico’s continuous efforts finally paid dividence when forward Peralta hit the target in the 61st minute.

Cameroon arrived in Brazil later than initially scheduled as players refused to travel following a row over bonus payments, but that has since been resolved, while Mexico’s form was poor going into the first game against the Indomitable Lions as they lost their previous two warm-up matches without scoring a goal.

However, Mexico had a better start by dominating the first ten minutes. In the 11th minute, Mexico were awarded a free-kick near the box. Hector Herrera sent a delightful ball into the box to find Giovanni Dos Santos before the No. 10 touched the ball home, but the linesman had his flag up.

Four minutes later, Eto’o sent in a cross that Choupo Moting finished but just like on the other end, the goal was ruled offside. In the 29th minute, Miguel Layun’s corner was met by Dos Santos but for the third time the goal was disallowed.

The rain let up a little bit in the second half. After a few exchanges between two sides, Mexico finally took their chance.

In the 61st minute, Dos Santos saw his effort denied by Cameroon’s goalkeeper Itandje, but the rebound was met by Peralta, who found the back of the net to put El Tri in front.

Despite being 0-1 down, the Indomitable Lions didn’t go down without a fight.

Their high pressure attack caused trouble for Mexico’s backline in the final minutes. In injury time, a header from Cameroon’s Moukandjo forced Mexico’s goalkeeper Ochoa pull off a match winning save.