Uruguay played their first match of the Pan American Cup after their unfortunate travel delay (their plane was hit by lightning after leaving Montevideo…) and were immediately under pressure from the young Mexicans, who had already found their competitive rhythm in their match against Argentina.  

Mexico were all over the Uruguayan circle in the opening 20 minutes but could not generate clear opportunities and Uruguay managed to weather the storm. Play became more equal and teams traded penalty-corners, but to no avail and the score was still 0-0 going into the break.

Play flowed back and forth in second period, but neither team could take control of the proceedings and very few scoring chances were generated. Joaquin Rodriguez Bermudez had a good opportunity for Uruguay when he arrived alone in the circle, but Moisés Vargas in the Mexican goal cleared the ball with a strong sliding stick save.

This was the wake-up call Mexico needed and they scored on the next action, Guillermo Pedraza collecting the ball after a broken penalty-corner and slotting it neatly under Jose Lasa in the Uruguayan goal. Alex Valdes added another goal for Mexico soon after, showing great individual skills to pivot twice in the circle and put the ball out of reach of the goal-keeper.

Uruguay came back within one goal by Maximiliano Tixe, setting up a hot final end of match, but Mexico held tight to earn their win of the competition (2-1).