Guatemala vs. Mexico: Score, Grades and Reaction for 2015 Gold Cup

Mexico were unable to find the breakthrough Sunday night in their 2015 Gold Cup group-stage match against Guatemala, drawing 0-0 in University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

El Tri had 19 shots in the 90-plus minutes but could manage only four shots on target, rarely piling much pressure on Guatemalan goalkeeper Paulo Motta.

Speaking of pressure, Mexico coach Miguel Herrera is bound to be feeling it after his team put together a rather lackluster showing. The 47-year-old was burdened with massive expectations coming into the tournament, and his team hasn't looked entirely convincing so far.

Mexico entered the day atop Group B after a 6-0 thrashing of Cuba on Thursday. The result didn't necessarily shed any light on El Tri, be it positive or negative, considering Cuba was down seven players and their manager.

Although Guatemala fell 3-1 to Trinidad and Tobago, this would be a stiffer test for Herrera's side.

Before the match, he was careful not to provide any bulletin board material for the Guatemalans, per Goal's Jon Arnold:

"

Since I've taken the spot as national team manager, I've said the distance between teams are getting smaller. The teams in Central America, in the Caribbean, every day they show that they're much tougher, much more prepared because now there aren't these distances. The famous "giants" of CONCACAF have stopped, and it's not one or the other that one leaves the post and another takes it. There's not anybody who might have the label of being very superior to their rival.

"

Despite putting six goals past Cuba, a strong argument could've been made Thursday that Mexico's attack wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. The talent gap simply afforded Mexico a massive advantage; they could afford to play at half-speed and coast to an easy win.

Through the first 45 minutes against Guatemala, El Tri had a similarly sluggish start, but this time, their opponents were a little more difficult to deal with. As a result, the two countries were deadlocked at 0-0 entering the dressing room at halftime.

Guatemala were happy to sit back, allow Mexico to control the game and play for the draw. In the first half, Mexico had a whopping 83 percent possession but struggled to create scoring chances, mustering only three shots on target.

Colin Seiler of KATU News in Portland, Oregon, summed up their performance well:

The lull in action seemed to affect the normally animated Herrera, which caught the attention of Vice Sports' Aaron W. Gordon:

"

Did someone give Miguel Herrera a sedative before the game?

— Aaron W. Gordon (@A_W_Gordon) July 13, 2015"

Andres Guardado nearly put Mexico ahead in the 34th minute after getting on the end of a cross from Oribe Peralta. Motta somehow saved Guardado's point-blank effort to remain tied.

Aside from that, Guatemala stymied El Tri at every opportunity, whether through legal means or with a little bit of tactical fouling. As Alan Jacobs not so subtly alluded to, the Guatemalans weren't too scared of the referee's whistle:

"

Guatemala fouling and fouling and fouling and fouling and fouling and fouling and fouling and fouling and fouling and fouling and fouling an

— Alan Jacobs (@ayjay) July 13, 2015"

As much as Guatemala's style hurt the aesthetics of the match, you couldn't deny it was wildly effective. Mexico continued running into a brick wall as they approached their opponent's 18-yard box, and the more they went without scoring, the more frustrated they became.

Goal's Seth Vertelney added that Guatemala would've been foolish to play any other way:

Mexico's frustration was clearly visible when their players believed Guatemalan defender Ruben Morales committed a handball in the box on a shot from Carlos Vela in the 71st minute. Paul Aguilar also fell somewhat theatrically to the turf during the play following what he thought was a foul from Moises Hernandez.

Dennis Lopez immediately got in the face of Aguilar, telling him to get up off the pitch, which set off a coming together between the two teams.

El Tri received a bit of a boost in the 76th minute after Jose Contreras picked up his second yellow card of the match, forcing Guatemala to play with 10 men for the final 14-plus minutes of the match.

A thunderbolt off the boot of Hector Herrera was inches away from giving Mexico the lead in the 86th minute. His right-footed shot from the outside of the box hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced away from goal.

Guatemala somehow managed to hold on until the final whistle, which didn't go over with the El Tri supporters in Glendale, per ESPN FC's Tom Marshall:

Soccer Morning's Jason Davis didn't have a dog in the fight and was conflicted a bit with the final result:

Fans of Mexico will have every reason to be upset with the draw. The lack of bite in the attack was reminiscent of Mexico's matches in World Cup qualifying that cost Jose Manuel de la Torre his job.

Guatemala might have parked the proverbial bus, but a team with Mexico's talent should've found an opening, especially when you consider El Tri finished with 80 percent possession.

With that said, it's too early to panic. Mexico are still second in Group C and all but a lock to advance to the quarterfinals.

You can count on Herrera making some tweaks to his side before they take on Trinidad and Tobago Wednesday. The lineup he put out against Guatemala simply didn't get it done.

For Guatemala, they're in an interesting position. They're the worst third-place team on goal differential at the moment, but their next match will be against Cuba, who had another player defect from the team, per the Associated Press (via USA Today). If Guatemala can take three points from a further weakened Cuban team, they might have done enough to get into the quarterfinals. 

Player Grades

Player	Grade
Paulo Motta	B-
Ruben Morales	C+
Elias Vasquez	C+
Wilson Lalin	B
Moises Hernandez	B-
Dennis Lopez	B
Jose Contreras	C+
Brandon De Leon	C
Jorge Aparicio Estrada	C+
Carlos Ruiz	C
Minor Lopez	C
Substitutes
Marco Pappa (on '78)	INC
Stefano Cincotta (on '83)	INC
Edgar Chinchilla (on '88)	INC

Player	Grade
Guillermo Ochoa	C
Francisco Rodriguez	C+
Diego Reyes	C+
Hector Herrera	B-
Miguel Layun	C+
Jonathan Dos Santos	C+
Andres Guardado	B-
Paul Aguilar	C
Jose Vazquez	C
Carlos Vela	C+
Oribe Peralta	C
Substitutes
Carlos Esquivel (on '67)	C+
Giovani Dos Santos (on '83)	INC
Javier Orozco (on '87)	INC