World Cup-goer Mexico is practicing in the American Pasadena in California in the early Tuesday morning against Wales, which has to make it this summer without a big tournament. What can we expect from this friendly international match?
Mexico:
Mexican football fans are eagerly looking forward to the upcoming World Cup. That makes sense, because the country had a flawless World Cup qualifying and had its World Cup start for three rounds before the end. Nevertheless, coach Juan Carlos Osorio was under the magnifying glass, because according to several analysts he would not let the country play frivolously enough. Mexico was indeed not a goal machine during the World Cup qualifying, but thanks to its decent rear line, it would have been sufficient for one or two goals to win the victory. In addition, the country recently showed against Belgium (3-3) and Iceland (3-0) still to be able to make a fist in attacking sense, although it went painfully with 0-1 the last march against a glorified B-team of Croatia.
In group F of the World Cup, Mexico will probably have to compete with Denmark and South Korea for the second place behind the most likely group winner Germany. With players like Andres Guardado (Real Betis), Javier Hernandez (West Ham United) and Hirving Lozano (PSV) as the main trendsetters, El Tri has a strong selection. Guardado, however, is not completely fit and will probably not take action against Wales. In addition, the country has some problems in the rear, because with Miguel Layun (Sevilla) it actually only has a really good back.
Wales:
For two years, Wales was the big revelation on her very first ever European Championship participation by the punches to the semi-finals, in which eventual winner Portugal 2-0 proved to be just too strong. The Dragons, however, have to make their seats this summer, because they just grabbed a ticket for the upcoming World Cup. The practice match against Mexico is therefore mainly focused on working on the future. Not only do we see many new faces in the selection, in the person of Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs the country also has a new national coach.
Giggs will have to make it on American soil without his main star, because Gareth Bale and his club Real Madrid of course are still in the polonaise after winning the third Champions League in a row. He will have to make do with a relatively inexperienced selection, because as many as thirteen of the 23 players have fewer than five caps behind their names. Yet Wales has players like Wayne Hennesey (Crystal Palace, 75 international matches), Sam Vokes (Burnley, 58 international matches), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal, 52 international matches), Joe Ledley (Derby County, 76 international matches), Chris Gunter (Reading, 87 interland) and captain Ashley Williams (Everton, 78 international matches) still have sufficient experience. Despite the absence of Bale, there is still a lot of quality and routine around in the selection of Wales.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / NO @ 1.58
