Mexico is in for a tough test against one of the best teams in the world in Argentina when they take the pitch on Tuesday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Argentina will be riding high after a 7-0 victory over Bolivia. Sergio Aguero, Lionel Messi, and Ezequiel Lavezzi each scored twice in that game, and will look to impress the American fans inside Cowboy's stadium against El Tri.
Messi is in the midst of a his La Liga and Champions League seasons, and is expected to see little minutes on the field on Tuesday.
"It's clear that people who pay to watch the game want to see Messi in action," Argentine coach, Tata Martino said. "We had to evaluate the situation as Messi has played a lot of games. Fortunately the limited time he will be on the pitch will be worth the price of admission."
Martino is expected to insert Gonzalo Higuain, Angel Di Maria and Javier Pastore into the starting XI against Mexico, as the trio did not see the field against Bolivia.
Mexico enters the match after a 3-3 draw against CONCACAF club Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday. A late goal in the waning minutes by midfielder Hector Herrera salvaged what could have been a disastrous start for new Mexico manager, Ricardo Ferretti.
Ferretti replaced Miguel Herrera after the controversial manager was fired for striking a Mexican reporter at the airport less than 24 hours after El Tri were crowned Gold Cup Champions.
Tuesday's friendly against Argentina will be his final tune up before the ever-important Confederations Cup playoff match between Mexico and the United States on Oct. 10.
The newest member of Bayer Leverkusen, Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez is expected to start up front against Argentina after not appearing in Saturday's match against Trinidad and Tobago.
Prediction: 2-1 Argentina.
Betting Odds: Argentina -1 (-115)
Over/Under 3 goals
Over 100,000 raucous fans are expected to take in the game, which will kick off at 10:00PM EST from AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas. The game will air live on ESPN 2 and Univision. It can be live streamed here, or on the Watch ESPN app for your mobile device.
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