Second-half substitute Medina bails Mexico out with quick goal against Senegal

Medina’s goal gives El Tri victory over Senegal

CHICAGO — Alberto Medina has at least one souvenir from his trip to the United States.

Medina scored four minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute Monday night, lifting Mexico to a 1-0 victory over Senegal and easing — for a few minutes, at least — concerns over El Tri’s ability to finish. But the score should have been far more lopsided as Mexico squandered opportunities for at least four more goals, including shots by former Chicago Fire star Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez from within 5 yards.

Senegal, which failed to qualify for the first World Cup in Africa, had a few shots on goal but never really threatened.

Drawn into Group A with host South Africa, France and Uruguay, Mexico is expected to get out of the first round. But its sloppiness in its first two games of its three-city U.S. tour is sure to concern coach Javier Aguirre.

Mexico looked a bit sharper than it did in Friday’s sloppy 0-0 draw against Ecuador. But it still struggled to finish, squandering chances for at least three additional goals and looking out of sync defensively against a team that didn’t qualify for next month’s World Cup and seemed to have little interest in offense.

The addition of Medina and Blanco in the 56th minute immediately energized El Tri — and not just because of the loud cheers and whistles in honor of Blanco’s homecoming. In the 60th minute, Andres Guardado, also a second-half substitute, sent a long pass upfield that was clearly going to outpace Medina. Senegal goalkeeper Khadim Ndiaye came out to collect the ball but bobbled it and Medina, who’d never slowed down, collected the rebound.

With Ndiaye on the ground and no one else close to the goal, Medina buried his shot into the far corner of the net, setting off raucous cheers from the sellout crowd of 60,610.

Hernandez, set to join Manchester United next season, had a chance to double the score a few minutes later, but duffed a wide-open pass from less than 5 yards out. Blanco had a point-blank shot in the 89th minute, but it sailed right into Ndiaye’s arms.

Mexico now plays Angola on Thursday in Houston before heading home to host Chile, a fellow World Cup qualifier, at Azteca Stadium. El Tri then goes to Europe for friendlies against England, the Netherlands and Italy before opening against host South Africa on June 11.