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How do you follow up a historic World Cup win? With another win, as Mexico demonstrated on Saturday, as they defeated South Korea 2-1 in Rostov-on-Don to sit on the cusp of advancing out of the group stage in the 2018 World Cup.
The first goal came courtesy of a familiar face, Los Angeles Football Club star Carlos Vela, who stepped up to take the penalty in the 26th minute after a clear handball in South Korea’s box. Vela made MLS-related history in the process:
Carlos Vela of @LAFC is the second non U.S. international playing for an #MLS club to score a goal in the #WorldCup after scoring for Mexico vs South Korea.
— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) June 23, 2018
The first was Tim Cahill, who scored twice for Australia in 2014 while with the Red Bulls (via @EliasSports )
It was Vela’s first goal at a World Cup.
In the second half, Chicharito scored his 50th goal for Mexico to put El Tri ahead 2-0, and that goal was pretty important in the end, as Heung-min Son unleashed a rocket deep in second-half stoppage time to give South Korea a consolation after two disappointing losses in this World Cup so far.
So Mexico are awaiting the final outcome of Germany-Sweden to know if they are guaranteed passage to the Round of 16, but at the very least they’re in the driver’s seat ahead of the third game, which will come against Sweden on Wednesday.
Congrats to Carlos, and keep up the good work!
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