The 66th meeting between the border rivals will commence on Wednesday as Mexico heads north of the border to take on the United States in a Texas showdown. The USMNT is 10-2-4 against El Tri on home soil since 2000, and will look to continue that dominance on the pitch.
However, this is not the Mexico team of yesteryear. The new revamped squad under Mexico manager Miguel Herrera has been playing phenomenal since El Piojo took over and they plan on stealing a result away from their rivals in San Antonio.
Both squads will look drastically different on the pitch as it is still early in the World Cup cycle and many players from both squads are still with their club teams in North America and Europe. USA manager Jurgen Klinsmann will use veteran experience compared to Herrera’s youth and talent when the two sides collide.
“It’s a huge opportunity playing Mexico in any kind of environment and in any kind of game,” Kilnsmann told ussoccer.com. “It’s different compared to how we were put together in Switzerland and in Denmark, and I see this kind of a game as a huge opportunity for players to come in and play in front of a sold-out stadium and loud crowd, a lot maybe pro-Mexico, but these are games where you mature and where you try to express yourself and show what you have, and therefore we are thankful that we can play this game.”
The match will feature many homegrown products form both countries as the two sides have composed rosters equipped with the best talent the MLS and Liga MX have to offer. One such battle will be between LA Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez and Chivas Guadalajara forward, Erick “Cubo” Torres.
Gonzalez has been a staple of Team USA’s backline for two World Cups and is coming off a MLS Cup Championship season with the Galaxy. Torres on the other hand is still making a name for himself and is considered to be one of Mexico’s most exciting young prospects. The two stars of the sport are certainly going to be seeing a lot of each other as Torres is set to join the Houston Dynamo of the MLS’s Western Conference in June of this year.
The United States is 2-0-3 since Klinsmann took over the team in 2011, which makes the German manager undefeated against USA’s nearest rival. Nonetheless, Mexico has been the stronger squad since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and presents a deeper and more formidable talent pool than that of the US. The fact that both squads will not have their best rosters on the pitch could make for a more competitive game however.
Prediction: 2-1 USA
The match is scheduled for Wednesday, April 15th at 8:30PM EST at the Alamadome in San Antonio, Texas. It will air on Fox Sports 1, UniMas and and can be live streamed online here.
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