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Two-goal hero in Nigeria’s defeat, Herrera averted racial slur against Super Eagles

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Mexico forward Hirving Lozano (22) takes control of the ball from Nigeria midfielder Anthony Shimaga (4) and defender Emmanuel Oluesi (20) during the second half of an international friendly soccer match Saturday, July 3, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

But for pre-match communication of Mexican star, Hector Herrera, most of the 53,258 crowd at the Mexico 4-0 defeat of Nigeria would have been making racial slur against the Super Eagles’ players.

According to a report by The Orange County Register, a daily newspaper published in California, the crowd, largely composed by Mexicans had planned homophobic chants throughout the match which had the arena’s first full capacity since the coronavirus pandemic

Moments before the match,  Hector Herrera  who later scored two goals, stood with his teammates at the centre circle to offer one more reminder.

As Herrera echoed a message that was unmissable on the grounds throughout the evening — chanting a homophobic slur that had long been part of the ritual of Mexican men’s national team matches can only bring negative consequences for the team you love — the largest crowd in the city since pandemic restrictions were lifted on June 15 fell as quiet as it got all night.

When Herrera wrapped up his comments the sort of unmistakable roar that only occurs when people congregate in such large numbers rose from the stands.

For Herrera, the Mexican national team, and Soccer United Marketing, which organized the MexTour series, the event went off without any notable malintent from the fans.

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The chant that plagued Mexican soccer has been inaudible from the stands since FIFA announced a fine and a two-match ban on spectators for competitive matches in Mexico last month.

On Saturday, match officials were not presented with a scenario in which they were required to stop the action or take players off the field as part of FIFA’s anti-discriminatory protocol that was instituted in 2019.

Instead, two minutes after the game began, Herrera quickly lifted the crowd once more by beating Nigerian goalkeeper Bobo Stanley Nwabili for the first of Mexico’s four goals in a shutout victory.

Fielding a squad of primarily domestic players, Nigeria remained winless all-time against Mexico (0-2-4).

In the 4th minute, Mexico had Nigeria scrambling and a ball over the top by Jesus Corona found Hirving Lozano, who dished it to goal scorer Rogelio Funes Mori.

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The Mexican faithful cheered and screamed as Herrera hoped they would, and by the seventh minute the crowd came together for its first wave around the Coliseum.

Herrera did his part to keep up the positive spirit by cleaning up a saved shot from outside the 18 yard box, giving him a brace and Mexico a 3-0 lead in the 52nd minute. The 31-year-old midfielder who plays professionally for Atletico Madrid earned MVP honors.

L.A. Galaxy midfielder Jonathan dos Santos entered the match in the second half and capped Mexico’s 4-0 win in the 78th minute when he deftly controlled a pass that came over the top of the Nigerian backline with his right foot and hit a dipping half-volley into the back of the net.

El Tri, which outshot Nigeria 16 to 3, returns to competition with the start of the CONCACAF Gold Cup group stage on July 10.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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