by scoring twice as Mexico got some revenge on Netherlands fo
their World Cup elimination with a 3-2 victory on Wednesday.
Vela was making his first appearance for the national side for
three and a half years at the Amsterdam ArenA after refusing
several call-ups, with his unwillingness to play for his country
seeing him miss the 2014 World Cup.
However, the Real Sociedad striker accepted the latest olive
branch from Herrera and wasted no time in illustrating his
worth with a well-taken double.
Vela's two goals were separated by a powerful volley from
Wesley Sneijder on a night that saw the Galatasaray star become
the third-most capped Netherlands player with 110
international appearances.
But Javier Hernandez added a third to render that moment of
magic irrelevant in spite of Daley Blind's deflected 74th-minute
strike.
Mexico stood firm to gain a measure of revenge for their 2-1
loss to Netherlands in the last 16 of the World Cup and place
further pressure on Dutch head coach Guus Hiddink, who
revealed that he would resign if his side lose to Latvia in Euro
2016 qualifying on Sunday.
Sneijder was presented with a pre-match award for reaching
100 caps, but it was Vela who stole the spotlight just eight
minutes after kick-off as he marked his comeback with a
magnificent goal.
Vela curled a superb 20-yard effort beyond a helpless Tim Krul
and into the top corner, silencing the crowd at the Amsterdam
Arena with his first goal since a 2-1 win over Italy in June 2010.
Hiddink was made to reshuffle in the 24th minute when centre-
back Ron Vlaar was forced off through injury and replaced by
Stefan de Vrij.
Despite that setback Netherlands began to take control of the
game, Depay casually firing over from a clever lofted pass from
the ever-threatening Robben, who worked Mexico goalkeeper
Guillermo Ochoa with a powerful low drive from distance.
But the chance of the half fell to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the Schalk
striker somehow firing wide at the far post with the goal at his
mercy after De Vrij had nodded a Robben corner into his path.
However, only four minutes into the second half Sneijder
levelled in spectacular fashion. The 30-year-old controlled a
Mexico clearance brilliantly before unleashing an unstoppable
dipping volley that left Ochoa groping at thin air.
Krul produced a fine point-blank save from Hernandez but the
Newcastle United keeper turned from hero to villain in the 62nd
minute, as he allowed Vela's half volley to sneak underneath
him after his defence had been undone by substitute Jesus
Corona clever pass.
And the visitors ultimately put the result beyond doubt seven
minutes later when Hernandez latched onto a throughball fro
Andres Guardado, rounded Krul and tucked into an empty net.
Yet a touch of fortune gave the hosts a route back into the
contest, Blind's long-range strike taking a wicked deflection tha
wrongfooted Ochoa to halve the deficit.
A night of frustration for Netherlands was encapsulated in the
85th minute when Ochoa dived to his left to keep out a header
from substitute Georginio Wijnaldum, sealing a result that
ramps up the strain on the shoulders of Hiddink ahead a
qualifier that could see his second spell in charge of his country
come to an early end.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
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