Beginning in the 85th minute, Argentina used goals from Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi in a three-minute span to salvage a 2-2 draw against Mexico on Tuesday night from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.Mexico was in control for most of the night after goals from Javier Hernandez and Hector Herrera lifted El Tri to a 2-0 lead. They made a serious bid for their first victory against the world's No. 1 team since they beat Brazil in 2005, but fell just short.Though it was a friendly, Tuesday's match against Argentina gave Mexico's interim manager Ricardo Ferretti an opportunity to find the right squad combination before the team's Confederations Cup playoff against the United States in October.He seems to have found it as Mexico played their best soccer of the summer with an organized style down the middle that quelled a high-power attack that included Carlos Tevez and arguably the world's best player in Messi.It made for a fantastic game as Soccer.com echoed those sentiments:At kick-off, though, Mexico looked to be preparing for a long night, as Messi and Argentina did not relinquish possession for the game's first seven minutes.It was just a preview of things to come. Argentina controlled 71 percent of the game's possession, but it was worthless against Mexico goalkeeper Moises Munoz in the first 84 minutes.More concerning for Argentinaand all players for that matterwas the condition of the field, which was in bad shape to say the least. In fact, it was Messi who unearthed an entire square of sod when he tried to change direction.The state of the pitch embarrassedNewsday's Greg Emerson, who was still getting over the United States' national team loss to Brazil earlier on Tuesday:Obviously, that runs the risk of injury, which would have been a disaster for the soccer world if Messi was injured due to loose sod in an international friendly.Maybe the sod took Argentinian minds off the match for a moment because Mexico went in front after 20 minutes when Nicolas Otamendi tackled Raul Jimenez from behind, awarding El Tri a penalty. Javier Hernandez, better known as Chicharito, stepped up and slotted the penalty into the bottom left corner of the goal.Per Tom Marshall of ESPN FC, Hernandez is inching closer to history:Mexico started playing with much more confidence after Hernandez's penalty as their performance had Marshall reminiscing about when he's seen such a good Mexican performance:That didn't mean Argentina was without their chances. In the 41st minute, Munoz bailed out Mexico with a sliding save on Angel Correa after he was sent through by Fernando Gago.Moments later, Hernandez had his chance at a second goal after he intercepted an errant back pass. With just keeper Nahuel Guzman to beat, Chicharito sent his chance high over the bar.For a team that had won just one of its past three games, Mexico was performing extremely well, especially against the 2014 World Cup runners-up. ESPN's Glenn Davis might have figured out why:Argentina continued to monopolize possession, and Tevez and company's efforts were brilliantly saved by the keeper Munoz, who made 10 saves on the night. Even ESPN Tri knew the keeper was the most valuable for El Tri on Tuesday:His heroics allowed Mexico to double their lead in the 70th minute when Hector Herrera scored his second goal in as many matches.Unmarked at the top of the box, he sent a low shot that ricocheted off Guzman and into the top of the net. It proved to be vital, too.In the 85th minute, a long ball from Messi got past Munoz and Ezequiel Lavezzi pounced on it. He managed to easily cross it to Aguero, who had a wide-open goal to halve Argentina's deficit.Three minutes later, it was Aguero hooking up with Messi to give Argentina its equalizer. Messi skillfully chested down Aguero's ball, volleying the chance with his left foot.It was a masterful 80 minutes from Mexico, keeping Argentina off the scoresheet for a majority of the game while absorbing large amounts of pressure. But there's a reason why Argentina is the No. 1 team in the world and why Messi is the best player.But if Mexico is able to replicate this kind of performance against the United States in the Confederations Cup playoff next month, El Tri will make a great case to advance into the tournament.Stats courtesy of ESPN FC.
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