Germany vs Mexico: Criticised for being sterile, Juan Carlos Osorio provides El Tri with their biggest World Cup celebration

Germany 0-1 Mexico: Hirving Lozano scored the only goal of the game to stun the world champions

Canta, no llores rang out at the Luzhniki as the final whistle blew. “Sing, don’t cry.”

A Mexican mantra from one of their most famous folk songs and, after beating the reigning world champions Germany on the first game of their title defence, sing they will.

The travelling hordes, estimated to be as many as 100,000, had crossed the Atlantic and descended on Moscow for a box-office clash against European giants. These are the games where they so often falter but not today, not here in a stadium they made their own against a team that they utterly derailed, short-circuiting the usually reliable Mannschaft machine.

Mexico are a footballing superpower in their own backyard but so often when it comes to the greatest stage in world soccer they are bullied by the bigger kids.

In 2014 they were eliminated by the last Netherlands team to be any good before their entire footballing system seemed to turn to soup. In 2010 and 2006 it was to Argentina, narrow wins but ones where they were simply outmatched by those accustomed to the big-time.

And so into 2018, a tournament they qualified for easily but with a coach who still finds himself unpopular for a variety of reasons. Either Mexico aren’t winning enough against minnows, the friendly defeats to better sides are unacceptable or Juan Carlos Osorio, a delightful, thoughtful man from Colombia, simply isn’t Mexican enough.

Osorio is known as el profesor for his analytical approach to coaching but not necessarily in a complimentary way. For Mexican fans, the same who provided the cacophonous soundtrack to this roasting afternoon at the Luzhniki, he is too sterile and removed from the joyous extremes that make Mexico great.

But perhaps he proved today that he is the voice of reason they need.

In terms of reaching the knockout stage of the World Cup, Mexico are one of the most successful teams in the tournament’s rich history but their last six World Cups in a row have seen them eliminated in the round of 16.

(AFP/Getty Images)

To avoid being one-and-done again when it matters in Russia, Osorio knew they needed to beat the Germans. Finishing second in Group F behind the reigning champions would mean a likely second-round encounter with Brazil and that familiar sinking feeling inflicted on them. Another global superpower trouncing a regional one as soon as the stakes were raised.

Osorio is almost certain to leave his post after this tournament, a relationship run cold between fans, federation and coach but despite the US-educated Colombian being derided for his attention to detail it was to be Mexico’s trump card here, ironically against the team that might be more renowned for it than any other.

In the moment, during the heat of the battle, Mexico’s attacking was frantic. Deep viridian chaos reigned as the waspish trident of Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez and Hirving Lozano dipped and dashed beyond Germany’s stretched defensive line.

But this was a chaos seeded by strategy. Osorio had pinpointed the gaps behind the marauding Joshua Kimmich as one of the chinks in Germany’s otherwise fairly impregnable armour. He couldn’t have known that Jogi Low’s midfield would be so utterly incapable of stopping his side’s counter-attacking play, it’s fair to say, with Sami Khedira no longer boasting the necessary dynamism to cover those Mexican surges, but he knew they’d line up with effectively four forwards. It was half a chance that came good. An educated guess that triumphed. Few back home will be complaining about the professorial approach now.

"We designed the plan approximately six months ago,” he said post-match. "And it worked."

Of course, the frustration with valuing method and precision is that Mexico’s attack actually functions with little of the above. They were a deep-green firework of a unit, countering with verve and a speed that sometimes their brains couldn’t catch up with. They might have scored three first-half goals with a little more thought and composure, and Osorio will have known that more than most. He certainly would have felt it more than most.

When they did score through Lozano, seismologists in Mexico recorded an earthquake as fans celebrated. Osorio? "I went back to my seat and looked at the plan."

In the second half too they had endless chances on the break, including one memorable counter that began with two players almost hiding out on the right flank and then springing Germany in a 2-on-1. The final ball was just off, again. Osorio sunk to the turf, again.

As Germany pressed forward, abandoning their calm and steady build-up of the first period in favour of a line of strikers and lots of pointing, Mexico were given more green grass to run into.

Still, though, they were wasteful. Infuriating. A huge, boisterous travelling contingent wailed with every missed chance, knowing that Germany always have the quality to hurt you and definitely the composure and know-how. In Guillermo Ochoa, Mexico had a last line of defence that had captured the imagination in Brazil four years ago and continued to keep the Teutonic invasion at bay.

And then it was the final stretch. Do what is necessary. Mexico fouled and cleared and blocked their way to 90 minutes and beyond. Manuel Neuer came up for a late corner, Germany’s own brief excursion into attacking chaos but one that came too late, with too much damage done.

El Tri had beaten the world champions, a result achieved through Osorio’s method and Mexican madness. On the streets of Moscow tonight, though, only one of those will reign.

Sing, they will. Cry - through sadness, at least - they won't.