Arellano Has His Suspension Reduced to Only One Game

YOKOHAMA, Japan —  Mexico earned a half-victory Thursday when FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, decided to reduce midfielder Jesus Arellano’s World Cup match suspension from two games to one.

Arellano, the closest thing Mexico has to a playmaker, was initially suspended by FIFA for three games for his part in a shoving incident during a qualification match against Costa Rica last October. With Arellano sitting out Mexico’s last qualifier, against Honduras in November, the Mexican soccer federation appealed to reduce the ban, calling it too harsh.

Three days before Mexico’s World Cup opener against Croatia, FIFA agreed to cut Arellano’s remaining suspension in half, meaning Arellano will be eligible to play against Ecuador on June 9 and Italy on June 13.

“We never lost hope and we are very happy,” Mexico Coach Javier Aguirre said.

Arellano said the decision “changes all my prospects. I’m very happy. I could barely sleep while I waited for the ruling. But now it’s official.”

Mexico will play Croatia without two of its regular midfielders. Joahan Rodriguez, the team’s right-sided defensive midfielder, is serving a one-game suspension for a red card he received during the Honduras match.

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Croatia Coach Mirko Jozic remains bewildered over Aguirre’s recent criticism of his team, responding again to Aguirre’s comments in a Thursday interview session with reporters.

“I can’t see why they don’t respect us,” Jozic said. “It’s not like we barely squeezed through the World Cup in our last qualifying match like they did.”

Croatia went undefeated in a qualification group that included Scotland and Belgium, yielding only two goals in eight matches. Mexico, which opened 1-3-2 in qualification, earned its trip to the World Cup only after a 3-0 victory over Honduras in its last qualifier.

Aguirre irked Jozic when he said earlier this week that Croatia is an aging team, not very strong, one that has slipped in quality since Croatia’s third-place finish at the 1998 World Cup.

“The last Mexican generation was also more talented and now they are a lot older,” Jozic noted. “Some have even retired from international soccer.

“I think we have a small advantage [in Monday’s match]. But we have to take Mexico as a serious contender.”