Mexico turned on the style at their iconic Azteca Stadium on Tuesday, brushing Ecuador aside 2-0 to break their World Cup knockout curse dating back 40 years.
The round-of-32 match was delayed for an hour due to stormy weather, and when it started, the co-hosts flew out of the blocks, mounting wave after wave of attacks. It means manager Javier Aguirre’s side will again have the advantage of playing in Mexico City, when they meet either England or DR Congo in the next round on Sunday evening.
Mexico carved out four chances inside the first 10 minutes and while John Yeboah hit the woodwork for Ecuador, they were distinctly second best and unable to match Mexico’s intensity all over the pitch.
In the 22nd minute, Colombia-born winger Quinones escaped down the left and cut inside before dispatching an unerring shot beyond Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez and in the roof of the net to make it his third goal of the tournament.
Nine minutes later, Wolves forward Jimenez found the top corner to ruthlessly punish a mistake by Ecuador centre-back Joel Ordonez on the edge of his own penalty area.
Sebastian Beccacece’s side improved considerably after half-time but Gonzalo Plata’s flick wide was the closest they came to reducing their arrears, and an already disappointing affair for Ecuador ended on a sour note when, with the game over as a contest, Piero Hincapie become the second player at this tournament after Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron to be shown a red card for covering his mouth while speaking to an opponent in stoppage time.
