Mexico embarks on one of its final matches before the 2015 Copa America on Saturday when El Tri takes on Guatemala in an International Friendly on home soil in Chiapas.
Mexico's manager Miguel Herrera will have one final opportunity to fine-tune his roster before he splits them into two squads for the Copa America and Gold Cup this summer. The former begins in Chile on June 11th when Mexico takes on Bolivia.
Herrera has made the Gold Cup his number one priority, and he is expected to send his top players to the CONCACAF Championship in order to flex their muscles against the likes of the United States for regional supremacy.
"I've never talked about an A selection or a B selection," Herrera said in his press conference leading up to the match. "This team is put together to reach the final. We'll give a few teams a scare and while we'll face tough opponents, we'll be a different team than we were in the last edition."
Now that most of the European league seasons are over, Mexico will be reunited with many players who make European club teams their home. This includes stars, Raul Jiménez from Atletico Madrid, Rafa Márquez from Hellas Verona, Jesús "Tecatito" Corona from FC Twente and Javier Aquino who was on loan at Rayo Vallecano.
"Raul has had a tough time," Herrera said. "He's young, but he's grown a lot and he finished the season fairly well. Diego Simone told us that it is likely he'll continue at Atletico Madrid."
This may be your last chance to see the full squad of stars you're used to at El Tri as the team that starts in the Copa America in two weeks will look vastly different. If you're a fan of Guatemala, it's been a rough going for you as Guatemala is winless in their last four games. The team is entirely composed of players who play within Guatemala with the exception of three who play outside the country.
Guatemala will have their hands full with Mexico, but will have an opportunity to learn from their mistakes before they play them again in the Gold Cup in July.
Prediction: 3-1 Mexico
Betting Favorite: Mexico -1.5
Over/Under 3.5 Goals
The match will commence on Saturday, May 30th at 6:00PM EST at Estadio Victor Manuel Reyna in Chiapas, Mexico. It will air live on beIN sports and Univision in Spanish. It can be live streamed here.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
