August 4, 2012
MARGIN OF ERROR
Mexico capitalizes on late errors to top Senegal 4-2 for berth in Olympic semifinals

LONDON—Mexico saw a two-goal lead slip away in the second half, but scored twice in extra time to defeat Senegal 4-2 in Saturday’s Olympic quarterfinal match in front of 81,855 at Wembley Stadium.

El Tri will face Japan in the semifinals on Tuesday.

Gio Dos Santos clinched the win for Mexico in the 98th minute, stripping the ball from Senegal defender Papa Gueye at the top right corner of the penalty area and curling a shot around advancing goalkeeper Ousmane Mane and into the left inside netting.

In the 109th minute, Hector Herrera took advantage of another poor backpass, this time by Abdoulaye Ba, to cap the scoring with a header into an empty net.

Dos Santos also set the stage for Mexico’s first goal, with a free kick buried by Jorge Enriquez in the tenth minute, and set the second tally in motion with a dribbling run into the box in the 63rd minute. Although Dos Santos lost the ball in the area, the Africans failed to clear, and Javier Aquino poked a shot into the empty net to make the score 2-0.

Senegal was far from finished however. Minutes after Aquino’s goal, tournament scoring leader Moussa Konate challenged ‘keeper Jose Corona with a sharp side-volley, and in the 69th minute, Konate put the first blemish on Corona’s Olympic record with a sharp header off Pape Soure’s left-side cross.

Seven minutes later, Soure served a left-side corner kick into the mixer for Ibrahim Balde, who rocketed a 12-yard header into the left inside netting to tie the score.