Mexico took a huge step toward next year's World Cup finals, shaking off recent bad form to pummel New Zealand 5-1 yesterday in their intercontinental play-off first leg.
Playing in Mexico City's imposing Azteca Stadium, El Tri delivered on their manager Miguel Herrera's pre-game call to take a big goal advantage into the second leg in New Zealand on November 20.
It was a massive turnaround for Mexico, who barely made it to the play-off after struggling in their North and Central America and Caribbean regional group, finishing fourth out of six teams.
After winning just twice and scoring a paltry seven goals in 10 games within the Concacaf final group, the Mexicans looked like a revived team as they came out charging against the All Whites.
Herrera shook things up after taking over, calling up only domestic league players while leaving out Europe-based stars such as Manchester United's Javier Hernandez and Villareal's Giovani dos Santos.