Set to enter the first of four international friendlies prior to beginning play at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the United States men’s national soccer team continues to make final preparations before a highly-anticipated showdown with rival Mexico. USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann – who has been at the helm of the national squad since 2011 – was originally planning to play the match with a roster of 22 but after Liga MX affiliate Puebla declined to release American talents DaMarcus Beasley and Michael Orozco for the April 2 showdown at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, Klinsmann and company will now only have the services of 20 players.
“We got notice from Puebla that they don’t release DaMarcus Beasley and Michael Orozco, which we’d planned on and we are very angry, very angry about this because the Mexican clubs release all their players for this very prestigious friendly,” he told Univision in a recent interview. “We are very disappointed in the decision by Puebla. When the match was scheduled, it was with the spirit that both teams would have access to their domestic-based players for what is a very important game for those competing for spots in the World Cup. Both MLS and most clubs in Liga MX honored that idea.”
Despite the loss of the veteran international figures, Klinsmann’s side will still partake in the match with a two-man roster advantage over El Tri, who will play with a slate of just 18 talents. Comprised entirely of players from the Mexican domestic league, first-year head coach Miguel Herrera – who has enjoyed his fair amount of success since taking over the Mexican National team on a full-time basis in December of 2013 – hopes to utilize the home grown talent in the best way possible against an American squad that possesses the ability to play high-end soccer on both ends of the pitch.
Excited about the upcoming friendly, Herrera said in a recent interview that pre-World Cup matches serve as final opportunities for his club to add confidence in the hopes that strong play heading into Brazil will lead El Tri to a strong run at the summer tournament, something that hasn’t been the case in recent time. Reaching the final eight is one of the goals El Piojo would like to achieve as well.
“What I’ve said is that if I don’t go to the World Cup thinking about winning it, then I might as well just go along as an extra, an outsider,” he said to FIFA.com when asked about his feeling on Mexico’s World Cup chances. “And that’s not for Mexico. We’re entitled to be excited and to aim to become world champions. We’ve got a good infrastructure and good players so why shouldn’t we think that way? With our history, it’s natural that we should think about the quarter-finals, and if we get past that stage then people will be happy no matter what. That’s the standard that the national FA has set for me, though. We’re going to make the last eight and then we’ll see who can stop us. We’ve only done it once in our history and we want to do it again.”
Mexico vs. United States: DATE, TIME & VIEWING INFO
DATE: Wednesday, April 2
TIME: 11:00pm, ET
TV COVERAGE: ESPN / UniMás / Univision Deportes
LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE
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