César Huerta took advantage of his first chance with the senior team and scored a goal that helped Mexico overcome a two-point deficit and earn a 2-2 draw with Australia in a friendly on Saturday.
Harry Souttar opened the scoring in the 16th minute and Martín Boyle scored a penalty in the 63rd minute to give the Australians the lead, but Raúl Jiménez scored from the penalty spot in the 69th minute and Huerta scored in the 83rd minute the balance.
“Chino” Huerta, 23, made his senior debut and scored a goal after coming on as a substitute for the Mexicans, who were playing their first game with Jaime Lozano as permanent coach.
In addition to Huerta, Monterrey’s Jordy Cortizo also received his first chance with the Mexican team as it prepares for the 2026 World Cup.
“I want to thank Jimmy for the trust, Jordy and I did things well, that’s trust and when they give you trust you have to take advantage of it,” Huerta told the TUDN network.
Lozano, who led the Mexicans in the Gold Cup, removed the interim tag and will seek his first win as a permanent coach next Tuesday against Uzbekistan in Atlanta.
The coach left out regular players such as César Montes, Hirving Lozano, Jesús Corona and Luis Chávez, who recently changed teams, from this tender.
Given these absences, Lozano gave the opportunity to Huerta and Cortizo, who are having good times at Pumas and Monterrey respectively.
“It’s a good draw because we come from behind, it’s never easy and we do well, but not 100 because we didn’t want to draw, even though we knew it wouldn’t be an easy game, but we knew “How to react,” said Jiménez, who returned to action with Mexico after missing the Gold Cup and Nations League.
Souttar, who plays for Leicester City, scored the first goal in the 16th minute with a header that hit goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa’s right post.
Mexico could have equalized in the 54th minute after a Luis Romo penalty, but Santiago Giménez stormed in from the 11th minute and his shot crashed into the post as goalkeeper Mathew Ryan was beaten.
Boyle failed to capitalize on the opportunity, scoring a penalty in the middle of the goal to make it 2-0 for the Australians at the start of the second half.
The Mexicans reduced the deficit in the same way after they fouled Uriel Antuna in the penalty area and Jiménez hit the Australian goalkeeper’s left post.
Mexico were better in the final minutes and reflected this when Huerta entered the box from the left and scored with a powerful shot that gave goalkeeper Ryan no chance.
