That’ll be the end of our live coverage today. Thanks for joining me. Mixed bag for the Socceroos, in the end - but if there’s ever a time to get the mistakes out of your system, it’s in a friendly.
Stay tuned for more words from me on this match and the road ahead for Graham Arnold’s men.
Cheers!
The Socceroos coach has also just spoken on the telecast, and was asked about Jackson Irvine’s injury.
“He was in a lot of pain. I asked him if it was good and he said no,” he said. “It is one of those things, unfortunately.”
Arnold was offered the chance to criticise the surface but didn’t take it, and instead talked up the team’s experience in Texas this week, and how this experience will do them good in the long run.
“We played against a very good side here, and obviously a couple of mistakes cost us goals, but at the end of the day I think the boys did exceptionally well,” he said.
“We have things to improve on ... when you play these type of games, you learn lessons. Overall I am very happy with the performance, but also, we can improve.”
We’ve just heard from Australia’s newest international player on Channel 10.
“It’s crazy, to be honest,” Silvera said.
“You see how passionate these fans are here, you can barely hear yourself. It shows it is a great experience for me, it was a tough team we came up against.
“We showed what we can do. We scored goals, we defended well, but it is just unlucky that the result was 2-2. It was unlucky with the goal, but I felt like we improved and we showed some good qualities.
“Mexico are a top team. To come to a stadium with nearly a packed-out crowd, full of Mexicans, is crazy. It is very difficult and again we showed our true colours, we did really well.”
There’s the final whistle.
A real mixed bag for the Socceroos - an impressive first half, a disastrous second, and a concerning injury to Jackson Irvine.
The final score, 2-2, is fair enough. Mexico certainly improved. But Australia let them back into the game, and there should be some recriminations for that mix-up for the second goal between Maty Ryan and Harry Souttar, who scored the opening goal.
That will not do his hopes of impressing his coach at Leicester City any good.
There’s been only one team in it in this second half - and it’s not the Socceroos.
We’re through the first of five minutes of added time and Mexico are pushing hard for a winner. Pretty much every gold jersey is in Australia’s defensive box.
Backs to the ball stuff now.
And as if this couldn’t have gotten any worse for the Socceroos - Jackson Irvine has been stretchered off the field after badly rolling his ankle in the play immediately after Mexico’s goal.
Meanwhile, Keanu Baccus has come off for Milos Degenek, with Aiden O’Neill coming on for Irvine.
Only a few minutes of regulation time left.
Oh boy. That was not good.
Mexico levels the scores in the 84th minute, thanks to an awful mix-up at the back.
It was a long ball from the hosts, and it looked like Harry Souttar was going to take care of it with his head - but there was clearly some sort of miscommunication between him and Maty Ryan, because Souttar let it go, the ball bounced, and Cesar Huerta pounced, smashing it into the net.
What on earth happened there?
There’s just over 10 minutes of regulation time to go, and the Mexicans are rallying hard, with a big boisterous crowd behind them. This is a great test for this new-look Australian side. Can they close this out successfully?
It’s an international debut for Sam Silvera, who replaces the goalscorer Martin Boyle.
Great moment for Silvera, who has had a terrific year, winning the A-League with the Mariners and earning a huge move to Middlesbrough. Now he’s a Socceroo. Can he help them close out this match and seal a win in his first match in green and gold?
Here we go - another chance from the spot for Mexico.
The referee has spotted a push from Cameron Burgess on Uriel Antuna as they were both chasing the ball. It was a bit soft, but it was there.
Raul Jimenez of Fulham takes the spot kick and he makes no mistake, deftly placing it past Maty Ryan. It’s 2-1 now.