History and Heartbreak took place on Wednesday as Mexico dominated Israel 3-0 in front of its fans in an international friendly leading up to the 2014 World Cup.

History first. Cuauhtemoc Blanco, a Mexican Legend for almost 20 years, played in his final game for El Tri. He played 38 minutes in the red sweater before he was taken out of the game to roaring applause.

The man that Blanco gave his Captain's armband was goaltender Jose de Jesús Corona, who would be on the heartbreak end of the storyline. Corona collided with teammate Francisco Rodriguez and was taken off in the 70th minute; he reportedly sustained a head injury. Guillermo Ochoa came on as the substitute. Fortunately for El Tri, the injury does not look too worrying for the team.

"The General Direction of National Selections informs that Jesús Corona was taken to the hospital after getting hit during the Mexico-Israel game. He went through tests which showed only a bruise. The player went through the protocol tests successfully, and no further injury was found. Corona will go back to the team hotel and will travel to Dallas with the team," a statement from the team said.

Mexico got two goals from Miguel Layun and one from Marco Fabian. The first tally came in the 43rd minute while the second was scored at the 62 minute mark; Fabian capped the scoring with an 85th minute marker.

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez came on for Oribe Peralta in the 45th minute but failed to generate much offensively. Giovanni Dos Santos did not get a chance to shine on the pitch in this game, but will undoubtedly get his opportunity in one of the upcoming friendlies.

Layun obviously made a big case for his inclusion in the starting lineup, as did Fabian who had a goal and three shots on net.


Next up for El Tri is a US tour of games with stops in Texas, Chicago and Massachusetts against Ecuador, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Portugal. After that, El Tri will take on Cameroon in its World Cup opener on June 13 before facing Brazil and then Croatia in the remaining matches.