Lacklustre Italy beaten

Mexico recorded the most impressive result of their World Cup warm-up matches by beating defending champions Italy 2-1 in a friendly in Brussels last night.

Beaten 3-1 by England and 2-1 by the Netherlands in their previous two outings, the Central Americans bounced back to give Marcello Lippi's lacklustre side a lesson in pace and application.

Mexico face hosts South Africa in the World Cup's opening match on June 11 and will also tackle Uruguay and 2006 finalists France in Group A.

Javier Aguirre's side, took a 16th-minute lead when Arsenal forward Carlos Vela took advantage of slack marking to finish Giovani dos Santos's cute pass with a crisp half-volley.

Italy began the game with a centre-back pairing of skipper Fabio Cannavaro and Bari's Leonardo Bonucci but neither player was anywhere to be seen as Vela fired home. The Azzurri defence was equally static when Alberto Medina doubled Mexico's lead in the 83rd minute.

Comfortable in possession and resourceful in midfield, Mexico dominated their opponents and were not troubled until Bonucci lashed in an 87th-minute goal following a corner.

Italy, possibly tired following a long coach journey from their Sestriere training base, lacked ideas in possession and were uncharacteristically hesitant in defence.