Vida En El Valle Blogs: The Latin voice of the central valley.

At right, Mexico's Andres Guardado battles New Zealand's captain Tim Brown in Pasadena.

Visit the photo gallery to see pictures taken by Hector Navejas of El Tri in San Francisco and my pictures from Pasadena.

PASADENA – After an exciting but scoreless first half, El Tri came through for the 90-plus thousand screaming fans whose unwavered support was rewarded with a 2-0 win over New Zealand at the Rose Bowl tonight.

Forwards, listed as substitutes on the day’s roster, Javier Hernandez and Carlos Vela each scored early in the second half against World Cup-bound New Zealand.

Amazing that Mexico did not further the score as El Tri controlled the ball most of the first half. Jonathan Dos Santos nearly outshined his brother Gio with a first-half shot on goal that hit New Zealand’s crossbar. From what I saw, the brothers didn’t even speak to each other. Not even a congratulatory high-five?

El Tri performed well: Throughout two pre-World Cup matches, Mexico finished without giving up a goal. Mexico’s confidence is on a high and “El Vasco” Javier Aguirre, the head coach, knows it.

“I think we’re a team that continues to improve and build on the possibilities,” said Mexican coach Javier Aguirre.  “We’re preparing well in this pre-mundial (pre World Cup matches).”

In the end, Mexico blasted 16 shots on goal to New Zealand’s one.

“I was really please because I knew it was going to be a challenge. Three of my main players are not here. We have a lot of respect for Mexican Futbol … we haven’t played for five months,” said New Zealand’s coach Richard Herbert. The excitement and noise from the crowd is a good test for New Zealand especially for teenage defender Tom Smith.

Captain "Temo" Blanco hits the field after a mild hit fishing for something from the referee.

The rain came down at about the 70th minute. Some spectators became unruly and police and crowd control officers escorted those unfortunate out of the stadium. One person fell or jumped from a 15-foot balcony that overlooked the players’ tunnel. He was quickly detained.

Aguirre praised the fans for their “unconditioned support” throughout the tour.

On March 24, The Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF), together with Soccer United Marketing will send the Mexican national team to Charlotte, North Carolina to face Iceland. On May 7, El Tri plays Ecuador in New York; on May 10, Senegal in Chicago; then on May 13, Mexico will play in Houston, Texas. The opponent in Texas is yet to be determined.

The World Cup in South Africa draw ended with Mexico to play the host country, Uruguay and France. New Zealand plays champion Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay in Group F.