CARDIFF: Striker Oribe Peralta combined with Tottenham forward Giovani dos Santos to score the only goal of the game against Switzerland on Wednesday and secure a place for Mexico in the Olympic men’s football quarterfinals.
The result eliminated Switzerland from the competition.
Mexico will now play either Britain, Senegal or Uruguay, which were scheduled to play their last group matches late in the night.
Peralta and dos Santos, who scored two goals after coming on a substitute against Gabon in Mexico’s last match, looked dangerous throughout much of the match and could have each scored more. Their form will give the South Americans hope of a medal in the competition.
Another Latin American country, Honduras, also reached the quarters with a 0-0 draw against Japan. It is the first time that the country has reached this level at the Olympics. Japan had already qualified and will face Egypt in the last eight.
Wednesday, however, brought further embarrassment for Spain as they ended their Olympic quest with a goalless draw against Morocco.
The Spaniards were already out of the running for a quarterfinal spot after losing their first two group games, but the addition of this draw means that they have failed to score even a single goal in the competition, a sorry state of affairs for a team that was touted as possible winners of the gold medal. (Agencies)
