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But, in a fast-paced game, Lewandowski was part of the most pivotal moment, a hairy situation that had Mexico teetering on the edge before goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, the rare player to appear in five World Cups, pulled it back to safety. With a diving stab early in the second half, he rejected Lewandowski’s penalty kick, Poland’s best chance at erasing Mexico’s otherwise solid efforts. Lewandowski is Poland’s career leading scorer but has yet to notch a goal in a World Cup.

“We know Lewandowski,” Ochoa said. “I’m happy to have stopped that penalty and kept it at zero.” Mexico forward Henry Martín said in Spanish, using Ochoa’s nickname, “Memo is made for big moments.”

Midfielder Charly Rodríguez called the result bittersweet given how Mexico had handled Poland but was unable to notch 3 points in the standings.

“We need to be calmer in that final pass and that final decision because we had a lot of possession and we generated a lot,” he said in Spanish. “And sometimes we have clear options and we don’t complete them. Having that tranquillity is difficult in a World Cup because you’re playing at miles per hour, but we have to strive for that.”

Mexico and Poland went back and forth with one amazing save after another in their opening match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup 🇲🇽🇵🇱

Recap all the action in our 90′ in 90″ highlights ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/IvTarATK9U

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 22, 2022

While neither team is expected to contend for the FIFA World Cup Trophy, they arrived in Qatar against starkly different backdrops. Poland has far less of a World Cup pedigree than Mexico, getting eliminated in the group stage in each of its three previous trips to the tournament. Mexico, on the other hand, had many World Cup demons.

Only two countries have advanced out of the group stage in each of the past seven World Cups: Brazil and Mexico. Brazil, though, has won the World Cup twice in that span, while Mexico has an ignominious record. El Tri, as the national team is known, was immediately eliminated in the first knockout round all seven times, a failure that has come with immense pressure and criticism in Mexico.

“It was a great game, and we should have won the 3 points,” Mexico defender Jorge Sánchez said in Spanish. “It wasn’t easy, but we leave happy with the game we played. We possessed the ball a lot, we had a lot of shots and we injected adrenaline into the fan base, which is important.”

From the opening whistle, Mexico tried frantically to pressure Poland with the forwards Alexis Vega and Hirving Lozano, who used their speed and shiftiness. They did and had Poland on its heels repeatedly, but couldn’t capitalize. Of their six shots in the first half, only one was on target. At least they were trying: Poland and Lewandowski mustered just one shot on goal in the first half.

But Lewandowski nearly changed the game in the second half. As Lewandowski charged toward the goal with the ball, Mexico defender Héctor Moreno yanked his jersey in the penalty area. No penalty was issued at the time, and play continued.

It wasn’t until moments later, when Mexico was setting up for a free kick on the other side of the field, that a check of the video assistant referee system was called for, prompting boos from a stadium seemingly full of Mexican fans. They booed louder when the referee Chris Beath signaled for a penalty kick and pulled out a yellow card for Moreno.

But all was not lost for Mexico thanks to Ochoa. Lewandowski took the penalty in the 58th minute and fired a low strike to his right. Ochoa dived to his left and slapped the ball away. After his teammates ended the threat by clearing the ball, Ochoa pumped his fists as the stadium erupted. Fans chanted “Yes we can!” in Spanish.

Wojciech Szczesny, Poland’s goalkeeper, commended Ochoa’s save and noted that Lewandowski normally watches the opposing keeper on penalties. But against Mexico, he said, Lewandowski “decided to choose a corner and kick it, and he made a good save.”

Szczesny continued: “Unfortunately, it cost us a win but looking at the whole game, it was probably a deserved result.”

More clarity to a group flipped upside down will arrive on Saturday, when Mexico takes on Argentina and Saudi Arabia plays Poland.

“In the World Cup, there are always surprises and all the teams prepare well,” Ochoa said. “We, too, are prepared and are looking to compete well against our rivals.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/11/22/sports/world-cup-scores