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NASL Minnesota United FC

Loons Fight Back to Draw Even with Mexico U-20 National Team

March 12, 2016 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
Minnesota United FC News Release


SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Just a shade less than two years since Minnesota United met the U-20 Mexican National Team at home at the National Sports Center Stadium in Blaine, the two teams squared off in a rematch at Estadio Miguel Hidalgo in Pachuca Mexico. Much like their first meeting, there was very little to separate the two sides. In the end, the Loons would fight back from a 2-0 deficit to finish the match even with the Mexican youth squad 2-2.

"We showed on occasion some lovely football, but not enough and not often enough," said Head Coach Carl Craig. "Certainly the ability is there, so I'm encouraged by that, but there needs to be more consistency."

Coach Craig will be encouraged by the way his team opened the first half. Christian Ramirez scored a goal that was called off when the assistant referee raised his flag for offside, and Lance Laing stuck the cross bar with a centering shot off a defender's leg all within the first ten minutes of action. However, in the 10th minute Damion Lowe came in hard on a Mexico National Team attacker from behind. Lowe was shown a straight red and the Loons went down to ten men.

"The higher the level, the tighter the refereeing is and any little bump here and there is often penalized, and we're just a little bit too aggressive on occasion particularly by our younger guys in the defensive positions," said Craig. "Whether it's the stress of the ball being near the goal or I don't know what else it might be, but we just need to be a little more calm in our approach to it."

The U-20 Mexico National Team shot low from the resulting free kick, bouncing it off a player near the wall and wrong-footing United keeper Sammy Ndjock. It took just three minutes for Mexico to notch their second goal of the match. Mexico pressed hard and played a ball into the box that deflected high into the air and fell to the feet of a Mexico attacker with acres of space. The attacker made no mistake, volleying a shot into the back of the net with the outside of his boot.

"We concede two silly goals and yeah we have to now start to cut these mistakes and start to improve-everyone has to improve-and we go from there," said United defender Tiago Calvano.

Minnesota returned to full strength following Mexico's second goal, with Aaron Pitchkolan checking in at center back. Again the Loons were on the front foot, earning free kicks and taking chances in the offensive third. United's first goal came in the 32nd minute with Ndjock initiating a quick restart following a corner kick. Ndjock tossed it wide to Bernardo Añor who played Lance Laing through on net. Laing played a shot hard on the ground that the goalkeeper couldn't collect, and Christian Ramirez cleaned up, hitting the ball hard into the back of the net. Ramirez is a man in form, having scored a goal in each of Minnesota's last three matches.

"A big part of taking trips like this is to help relationships meld together and that's certainly happening," said Craig. "The clock's ticking... what was eight weeks is now down to three weeks or so and we've got work to do."

The second half started slower than the first, with both teams making big changes through substitutions and each team feeling the other out. Minnesota had the better chances in the final 45 minutes, really pushing to find an equalizer and pressing high up the pitch. That pressure paid off in the 77th minute when trialist Elbio Álvarez took the ball off the boot of the Mexico keeper and walked it into the net.

With the game even at two, both teams upped the tempo, pushing the ball deep up the pitch and playing the ball long to forward-running attackers. However, neither team could find a way through the defensive line and the final whistle blew with the teams tied 2-2.

"The big spot for me is the fitness, because coming here in the altitude is very different and the first game we won, but from my point of view the physical aspect was a bit down," said Calvano. "Today, I think at the end we started to know how to deal with the altitude a little better."

Minnesota United has another chance to make adjustments this Wednesday when the Loons match up against Cruz Azul in Mexico City. That match is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. CDT. Find updates throughout the game on our Twitter page and look for highlights following the game on our website.

"We need to do better, offensively and defensively," said Calvano. "Everyone has to know where we have to improve and we go from there. Preseason is for that, we're approaching the championship and it's time to cut the mistakes and do what the coaches are asking us to do."

The Loons begin regular season play on April 2nd, with the home opener taking place two weeks later on April 19th. Find season tickets today at mnunitedtickets.com.

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