Thousands of fans who had previously purchased tickets to the Mexico/Portugal friendly were dismayed by the news that Ronaldo would be not playing. Ronaldo is still suffering from tendonitis in his left leg and hopes to be at full capacity by the World Cup.

With Portugal missing its captain, along with Pepe and Mierless, Mexico seemed poised to ride into Brazil on a winning streak. This was not to be the case.

The first half of play featured Mexico controlling most of the ball possession. Although they had a few decent attempts at scoring, Portugal Goalie Guillermo Ochoa racked up two early saves and was bailed out by an offside penalty that negated a Mexico goal.

While Mexico out possessed Portugal 53 to 47 percent, the game was ultimately decided by how productive the periods of control were. Portugal outshot Mexico 5-3 including a brilliant extra time header after a Portugal penalty kick.

Mexico fans are still hoping for some sign of life from their recently battered team. After barely qualifying for the World Cup, fans are counting on Mexico coach Miguel Herrera to shake things up with his creative strategy.

At the end of the day a friendly is a friendly and Mexico isn't panicking, yet. Losing to Portugal in extra time is nothing to fret over except for the fact that they were missing arguably the best soccer player in the world. Without Ronaldo on the field Portugal was barely able to survive a friendly with Greece. It's clear to critics and fans that without Ronaldo, Portugal is a completely different team.

When looking for the silver lining it is interesting to note Portuguese coach Paulo Bento's comments after the match. "Mexico has lots of technical quality and we struggled a little bit in the beginning of the match to defend their attacks."

Herrera, in an attempt to shake things up with tact has given his midfield core more freedom to fire at will. No team wants to go into Brazil riding a two game skid, but if Mexico has any chance in the WC then Chicharito and other Mexico stars need to take their game to the next level.