Match Recap: Mexico 1, Bolivia 0

Commerce City, Colo. - It was not quite the 5-1 mauling meted out to Bolivia the last time the two teams met at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, five years ago, but Mexico were far and away the better side as they claimed a 1-0 victory in front of a sell-out crowd on Tuesday night.

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Starting with a youthful-looking 11, head coach Miguel Herrera will have been quietly satisfied with the way his team were more creative, more active, more aggressive and showed much more cohesion - certainly for the first 45 minutes.

Chivas USA striker Erick Torres made his senior international debut, while Toluca's Antonio Rios got his first start for El Tri, against a side that is still seeking its first win since defeating Haiti 2-1 in February 2013.

Only a little loose finishing and the legs of Bolivian goalkeeper Daniel Vaca kept the scoreline at 1-0 in the first period, as Mexico controlled the pace and bossed the possession.

The experienced Miguel Layún scored the game's only goal after 18 minutes, but only after some intricate work on the edge of the Bolivian box by Torres and Santos Laguna’s Javier Orozco. A one-two between Torres and Orozco, allowed the former to fire at goal. The initial shot was blocked by Vaca, allowing Layún to slam in the rebound.

Bolivia head coach Xabier Azkargorta made four changes at the interval, and it certainly gave his team more purpose to their game. Try as they might, though, they lacked a cutting edge in the final third, as Mexico kept a clean sheet for a second successive match.

The South American nation was kept off the scoresheet for the second time in four days, though Bolivia have goalkeeper Vaca to thank for keeping the contest close. A fine one-handed save on 70 minutes the pick of his night's work.

Bolivia finished the match with ten men, after substitute Ramiro Ballivian was sent off for confronting one of the assistant referees in the dying seconds of the game.

Mexico: Moises Munoz; Hugo Ayala (Oswaldo Alanis 85'), Hiram Mier, Luis Venegas, Miguel Layún, Rodolfo Pizarro (Paul Aguilar 78'), Javier Aquino (Héctor Herrera 75'), Antonio Rios (Miguel Ponce 84'), Marco Fabian (Andrés Guardado 68'), Erick Torres, Javier Orozco (Oribe Peralta 62').

Bolivia: Daniel Vaca; Ronald Eguino, Leandro Maygua (Mario Ovando 77'), Marvin Bejarano, Ronald Raldes, Daniel Chavez (Ramiro Ballivian 46'), Danny Bejarano (Damir Miranda 46'), Alejandro Melean (Alejandro Chumacero 46'), Jose Luis Chavez, Carlos Saucedo (Rodrigo Ramallo 66'), Rudy Cardozo (Gualberto Mojica 46').

Att: 18.136

Full international games at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park: