Mexico end World Cup knockout drought with last-32 win over Ecuador in Azteca cauldron

They were held up by an electric storm but, after it had cleared, Mexico simply kept the lightning bolts coming. El Tri have broken a hex that had gnawed at the nation’s football psyche for years, winning a World Cup knockout game for the first time since 1986, and the head turner will be the manner in which it happened. Javier Aguirre’s players cut Ecuador apart in a stunning first-half performance that rocked a pulsating Estadio Azteca to its foundations and laid a marker for the round of 16. Thudding finishes from Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez sent them clear and they could manage their

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