Mexico on Sunday afternoon produced the biggest shock of World Cup so far as they thrashed reigning champions Germany in their Group F opener.
Germany were stunned 1-0 by Mexicans in the opening game of their World
Cup defence as Hirving Lozano finished off a sharp
counter-attack that exposed the ragged defending that the four-times
winners had displayed in their warm-up games.
Germany's
defence had looked stretched to breaking point on several occasions in
the opening half-hour, and it was no surprise when Javier Hernandez
again left Mats Hummels for dead to play in Lozano, who cut inside Mesut
Ozil and smashed the ball low into the corner to release an explosion
of noise in Luzhniki Stadium.
Germany came close to leveling
late in the half when a Toni Kroos free kick was touched onto the bar by
goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, and they gradually took command once Marco
Reus joined the fray after an hour and introduced some pace to their
attack.
But despite almost constant pressure they were largely
kept at long range, and their poor finishing rarely threatened Ochoa as
Mexico held out for only their second victory against the Germans in 12
attempts.
