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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Confederations Cup: Mexico eliminates host Russia

Russian players walk off the field after being eliminated from the Confederations Cup following a 2-1 loss to Mexico on Saturday. (Thanassis Stavrakis / Associated Press)
By Tales Azzoni Associated Press

KAZAN, Russia – Host nation Russia fought valiantly but could not avoid early elimination at the Confederations Cup after a 2-1 loss to Mexico on Saturday, a result that secured the Mexicans a place in the semifinals of the World Cup warm-up tournament.

Needing a victory to advance from its difficult group, the hosts played well and took the lead with a goal by Alexander Samedov in the first half, but the experienced Mexicans equalized through Nestor Araujo before halftime and secured the victory early in the second with a goal by Hirving Lozano after a mistake by Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.

The Russians had plenty of chances, but poor finishing kept them from earning a better result. Several players missed clear scoring opportunities throughout the match in front of 41,585 fans at Kazan Arena.

Russian players gathered in the middle of the pitch to salute fans after the final whistle and were applauded by the crowd.

“We managed to show good football,” Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov said. “We are making steps in the right directions.”

Russia played a man down from the 68th minute as Yury Zhirkov was sent off with a second yellow card, the first player in the tournament to be shown a red card.

Mexico had a second-half goal by defender Hector Moreno disallowed for offside after video review.

“We faced a rival that needed to win and had nothing to lose, and we competed very well against them,” Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. “We are building a team that is showing that it can play against any opponent in any situation. It was an important victory for Mexican football.”

Russia was the lowest-ranked team in the eight-nation competition among continental champions plus the World Cup winner and the host nation.

Advancing from the group with European champion Portugal and Gold Cup winner Mexico was seen as a difficult task from the start, but an opening victory against New Zealand had left Russia in position to make it to the semifinals despite a loss to Portugal in the second match.

The opening goal came following a blitz by the Russian attack in the 25th minute. After striker Fedor Smolov struck the post with a long-range shot and Zhirkov had his shot saved by Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, Russia kept possession and sent the ball back into the area, where Aleksandr Erokhin missed a chance before Samedov picked up his pass and sent a precise low shot into the far corner.

Mexico equalized five minutes later after Hector Herrera’s long cross into the area found Araujo near the far post. The defender headed the ball into the opposite corner, over goalkeeper Akinfeev.

Akinfeev made a mistake that led to Mexico’s second goal after a long clearance by Herrera from near the Mexican area. The ball took a high bounce and started to fall just at the edge of Akinfeev’s box. The goalkeeper apparently wasn’t sure if he could use his hands and ended up taking too long to commit to the ball with his feet, allowing Lozano to nip in and head it into the open net.

It had been a great start for the Russians, keeping Mexico from creating significant chances and threatening on counterattacks.

The hosts wanted a penalty after Zhirkov fell inside the area in the sixth minute, but he was barely touched by the Mexican defender and the referee let the play continue. They appealed for another penalty about 10 minutes later when Smolov went down in the box after getting tangled up with Araujo, but no penalty was given despite help from video. Play had continued for about 30 seconds before the game was stopped for the review.

Portugal routs New Zealand to advance

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – European champion Portugal showed 95th-ranked New Zealand the respect of selecting Cristiano Ronaldo and other stars when rest was an option.

The strategy helped Ronaldo get his 75th international goal and Portugal an ultimately easy 4-0 win at the Confederations Cup on Saturday.

It also cost Portugal the services of Pepe in the semifinals. The tough defender is suspended for being shown a yellow card for a crude challenge just before he could be substituted.

Pepe is set to miss facing Germany or Chile after helping Portugal top Group A ahead of Mexico on goal difference. Mexico also advanced by beating host Russia 2-1 in Kazan on Saturday.

“If I knew it was going to happen I would have replaced him,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos, who had a replacement warming up when Pepe saw yellow in the 56th minute for a hard, high tackle.

The type of challenge that made Pepe’s reputation was exactly what he curbed when being central to Portugal’s 2016 European Championship title.

Still, Portugal won that final against France after Ronaldo went off injured, and the 32-year-old forward is at the heart of his team in Russia.

“We will play a difficult opponent whoever that will be, Chile or Germany, two great teams. But we are confident,” Ronaldo said in Portuguese.

Ronaldo’s second goal of the tournament was a penalty that opened the scoring in the 33rd minute.

His sharp headers could have turned a comfortable win into a rout. Three times he arrowed the ball too close to New Zealand goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic, who leaped to push one first-half effort against the crossbar.

When Ronaldo began to dominate All Whites defenders in the air midway through the first half, an aerial challenge saw him left in a heap.

Ronaldo did not complain and soon scored when Portugal earned its penalty. Midfielder Danilo was pushed and tripped trying to meet the ball from a corner. Ronaldo shot high to Marinovic’s left as the goalkeeper dived right.

It was 2-0 four minutes later when Bernardo Silva slipped a shot into an unguarded goal after neat play on the left flank between Ricardo Queresma and Eliseu. Silva, the new Manchester City recruit, turned his right ankle while scoring and did not appear for the second half.

Russian fans in a 56,290 crowd made it clear who they came to see. They cheered when Ronaldo was on the big screens, even during Portugal’s national anthem.

His loudest ovation was for applauding back to the crowd when substituted midway through the second half.

An inevitable third goal came in the 80th when Andre Silva dribbled deep into the New Zealand penalty area to score with a rising shot. Substitute Nani shot low past Marinovic in stoppage time.