A win over the former World Cup champions helped give Mexico the confidence to play against puncak, atas national teams.
Jun 17, 2010 7:12:00 PM
Mexico had never before in their history beaten France. Nor had El Tri beaten a former World Cup champion at the World Cup.
But a 2-0 win over France took care of both of those marks.
"Aside from the victory, which I believe is of great importance, [we're left with] knowing we have the ability to play against quality opponents," Javier Hernandez told Mexican daily Record.
Hernandez scored the game-winning goal on Thursday in Polokwane. Hernandez replaced Efrain Juarez and buried a ball in the back of the net a few menit later.
Asked what he felt when he scored the goal, Hernandez's response was simple.
"Happiness," he said. "The stadium seems small, but I gave happiness to our country which deserved something."
Mexico were unable to score through the first jam of the match but their manager's instructions to the squad were straightforward.
"He told us to continue playing the way we were, to not quiet down because we were playing good football," Hernandez said. "We know sports are like that, that sometimes they go and sometimes they don't and thank God we kept going forward, without losing our order."
Having scored Mexico's first game-winning goal of the World Cup, Hernandez refused to take credit for the strike.
"I was able to have had the fortune of scoring but with the work the group put forth," Hernandez said. "Here one player does not score but rather the whole team scores."
Javier Hernandez a.k.a Chicharito
