Mexico held by 10-men Venezuela
MEXICO CITY, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Mexico, having ended their internal squabbling, were held to a 2-2 friendly draw by a Venezuela team who played for more than one hour with 10 men.
Juan Arango twice put Venezuela ahead while Javier Hernandez and Giovani dos Santos replied for Mexico, whose players had threatened to boycott the game after being fined over a late-night party.
Venezuela defender Gabriel Cichero was sent off after 24 minutes of Tuesday's match in the border town of Ciudad Juarez for a second yellow card.
Mexico's problems began in September when 13 players were disciplined by national teams director Nestor de la Torre for holding a party at the team hotel after a friendly against Colombia in Monterrey.
Carlos Vela and Efrain Juarez were suspended for six months and the other 11, including Manchester United's Hernandez, team captain Rafael Marquez and Dos Santos, were each fined 50,000 pesos ($3,900).
The 13 players asked not to be picked again until De la Torre was removed from his post. Despite this, most of them were included in the squad for Tuesday's match and warned they could face stiffer penalties if they ignored the call-up.
The players travelled for the match and De la Torre quit following a meeting on Monday.
Borussia Moenchengladbach's Arango put Venezuela ahead after only seven minutes with a well-placed shot which left goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa stranded.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Hernandez headed Mexico level just after the half hour only for Arango to strike again with a shot from outside the penalty area in the 40th minute.
Mexico dominated the second half and levelled when Pablo Barrera slipped the ball to Dos Santos, who scored with an angled shot in the 61st minute.
It was Mexico's last match under interim coach Efrain Flores.
They are due to name a coach later this month with Victor Manuel Vucetich and Jose Manual de la Torre the only candidates.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
‘Phil Neville tried a lot of different ideas to get the best out of the Lionesses, but things weren’t quite right and needed ironing out – that wasn’t his fault’: Former England women's star reflects on time with national team
‘Missing the Euros was one of the toughest moments of my career – I got into a good place mentally and physically with my form, then my body broke down’: England star reflects on agonising summer