CONCACAF rivals Mexico and Costa Rica played to an entertaining 2-2 draw in a friendly at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday.Both sides are viewed as legitimate title contenders heading into next month's Gold Cup, and that added a little extra meaning to the match. It was a tale of two halves as Los Ticos owned a 2-0 halftime lead before El Tri stormed back to earn the draw.Mexico didn't field its best lineup for the recent Copa America tournament, but its failure to win any group games left head coach Miguel Herrera under fire. Iliana Limon Romero of the Orlando Sentinel noted the emotional boss was hoping to move past the recent struggles."I enjoy the wins and the losses," Herrera said. "This is a great job and sometimes you have to think about it, that it is a good job. Sometimes you're not going to have good results, but you just have to keep moving forward."The match didn't get off to a promising start for El Tri.Costa Rica jumped out in front less than five minutes into the match thanks to David Ramirez. The 22-year-old forward beat the Mexican defense to the outside on a counterattack and then ripped a shot through the legs of Guillermo Ochoa to grab the early lead.Goal USA pointed out the goalkeeper should have made the save:ESPN Tri explained there was plenty of blame to go around, though:Los Ticos remained the more dangerous side in the aftermath of the early tally. Costa Rica was able to put the Mexican back line under consistent pressure, and El Tri didn't respond well, often getting stretched as it struggled to control possession for any extended period of time.Costa Rica eventually capitalized on those issues to make it 2-0.Ramirez made another tremendous run to sneak behind the El Tri defenders. He dribbled deep into the box before crossing it into a crowd of players, where Miguel Layun deflected the ball into the back of the net for an own goal.Andrea Canales of ESPN FC stated Ochoa once again was at least partially to blame:Mexico tried to pick up the pace after falling behind by two but struggled to link passes together over the final 10 minutes of the half. Costa Rica played a far more active, involved brand of soccer, and it showed throughout the first 45 minutes.The Mane Land confirmed the one-sided nature of the opening half:Surprisingly, Los Ticos appeared content to drop into a defensive shell early in the second half.It didn't take long for El Tri to take advantage, as a few shoddy clearance attempts allowed Giovani dos Santos to break free with the ball in the box. He made no mistake, slotting the ball past Esteban Alvarado and just inside the far post to cut the lead to one.Jason Le Miere of the International Business Times praised the final touch:Javier Hernandez leveled the score a few moments later in the 55th minute.Mexico almost immediately regained possession and pushed deep into Costa Rica territory. Carlos Esquivel proceeded to whip in a perfect cross that Chicharito calmly headed into the net.As Nayib Moran of the Mexican Soccer Show highlighted, it was the pass that created the goal:Neither side created much of anything from that point forward. The tempo was good with a lot of back-and-forth action, but things bogged down inside the repetitive attacking thirds. Even in a friendly, there was a lot of cautious play with plenty of players behind the ball to limit the number of chances.ESPN FC spotlighted the result:The draw sends Costa Rica into the Gold Cup on a frustrating note. The squad was coming off three straight one-goal losses, and although those came against opponents such as Colombia and Spain, getting back in the win column could have provided a boost of confidence.Mexico has one more friendly before the biennial CONCACAF tournament, which is good news since there's still work to do. El Tri faces off with another national team from the region, Honduras, next Wednesday for their final warm-up performance.
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