Guatemala is the 118th team of the FIFA ranking, which in 32 games with Mexico She has lost 21 times so far. This time, she had her ninth draw. Mexican coach Gerardo Martino wanted to check the players playing mainly in America in this game. Mexican stars from Europe such as Nestor Araujo (Celta Vigo), Hirving Lozano (Napoli), Jesus Corona (FC Porto) or Raul Jimenez (Wolverhampton) did not come to the April training camp at all. These players will be available for the next training camp at the end of May. Mexico’s second suit dominated in the clash with Guatemala, but nothing came of the exchanges of balls and hundreds of passes. Mexico was helpless in its rivals’ penalty area and missed out on any of the 19 opportunities it had created for itself. These were not some fine situations. Suffice it to say that the 9th team of the FIFA ranking gave only 2 shots on target at Guatemala.
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Mexico’s greatest strength? Poland may have trouble at the World Cup
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Human resources review and gift for Mexicans in the USA
It was a training camp where four new players could get to know the Mexican squad for the first time, and for some less frequently called or younger players it was a chance to show themselves to the manager in the long term. For example, Santiago Gimenez, the 21-year-old forward Cruz Azul, who has already flashed in the national team matches this fall, played the whole game. He then scored a goal in a friendly against Chile. Now, however, he was less visible, as if adjusting to the level of his rival, who was mainly focused on interrupting Mexico’s action, and he himself threatened him more with just one action.
In addition to the staff review, the game was also played in Orlando a nod to Mexicans living in the US, because about 40,000 of those at Camping World Stadium showed up. Anyway, at the end of the match, two longing fans appeared on the pitch to take a photo with the national team goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo. The rivalry had to be stopped.
The coach of the Polish team, Czesław Michniewicz, also sat in the stands of the stadium in Orlando. The coach has been in America since Easter, he watches and meets with Polish footballers playing in MLS. The Mexico sparring match played in the USA was a good opportunity to make the first notes about the World Cup rival. Due to the nature of the meeting, these had to be rather general notes.
Mexico without a coach
Interestingly, although the match was watched live, incl. the Polish national team selector, it could not be watched by … the Mexican coach. Gerardo Martino recently had eye surgery for a retinal detachment and his doctor banned him from traveling by plane. According to experts appearing in the Mexican media, Martino may have a problem to regain full strength even for the next grouping. In any case, the second El Tri coach (Jorge Theiler) flew to Orlanado with the team, and Martino shared his comments from home.
Another paradox of this meeting was that Guatemalan players had to sleep at the airport on their way to the match. Due to bad weather, their plane could not take off, so the competitors waited for the situation to improve, sleeping on the airport benches and the floor. They arrived in Orlando a day later than planned, but they made it easy for the match.
Mexico will play four more friendly matches before the November World Cup (against Nigeria, Uruguay, Ecuador, Paraguay) and in mid-June will also play in the Concacaf Nations League (rivals are Suriname and Jamaica). At the World Championships in Group C, Mexico, apart from Poland, will face Argentina and Saudi Arabia.
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