Houston Dynamo forward Erick "Cubo" Torres' Olympic debut ended in a disappointing 2-2 opening draw for Mexico's defending gold-medal squad.

On Thursday in Salvador, Brazil, Torres came off the bench in the 74th minute for goalscorer Oribe Peralta with Mexico up 2-1 -- and nearly helped make it 3-1 shortly after entering the match. Torres made a run into the right channel and passed to Hirving Lozano, but Lozano's shot was saved.

Four minutes after Torres came on, Matthias Ginter equalized with a header off a corner kick, forcing the 2012 champions to split the points.

The match's first three goals came in a flurry near the hour mark.

Peralta put Mexico up 1-0 in the 52nd minute with his fifth career Olympic goal, a header off a corner kick. Serge Gnabry equalized in the 58th for the Germans, but Rodolfo Pizzarro's 62nd-minute putback of a ball off the crossbar put El Tri back up 2-1.

Mexico continue Group C play on Sunday as heavy favorites against Fiji, who opened their tournament with an 8-0 pasting by South Korea.