El Tri Defeats Iceland 2-1 in Dallas; What’s Next?
The Mexican National team needed to call in the artillery to rescue a victory vs. a very gritty Icelandic side. For the first 60+ minutes of the game, the Mexican squad was having a challenging time penetrating’s the European’s goal.
It would not be until the 63rd minute of the game that Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino decided to make a drastic change by making four substitutions. He brought in Gerardo Arteaga, Nestor Araujo, Hector Herrera, and Hirving ‘El Chucky’ Lozano, with the latter turning out to be a difference-maker.
Chucky’s ability was disrupting to the Nordic squad who at multiple times managed to cram seven to eight players inside their own box. Don’t believe me? Check out the image below.
Despite that, El Chucky connected first with Diego Lainez on a breakaway that caught the Icelandic team unprepared.
Then, Lozano scored his second goal of the night and proved to be the game-winner following a nice cross from Hector Herrera that found Chucky wide open in front of the goal.
Mexico gets the win despite a performance that many would not call convincing. In any case, it does give the Mexican’s good momentum coming into their Nations League’s matches which kick-off this Thursday in Denver.
Let’s look at the upcoming calendar for the Mexican National team, who will be very busy in the upcoming weeks.
If Mexico ends up defeating Costa Rica and the United States takes care of business against Honduras, we could have our first of three official Mexico vs. the USA matches this year. Yes, the two sides met in the Olympic Qualifiers, but with their respective U-23 sides. This could undoubtedly also take place if both teams were to lose.
After the Nations League, Tata’s men will play in three international friendlies in the United States. The most intriguing of the three will be the match scheduled for July 3rd at the LA Memorial Coliseum against Nigeria. The African squad is a formidable opponent for El Tri and should present a different and more physical challenge that any squad from CONCACAF or Europe can offer. Speaking of CONCACAF, the Gold Cup will take place in July, and at least two of the opponents in their Group A matches have been determined; El Salvador and Curacao.
Regardless of what anyone may think of the opponents, Mexico is expected to win their group and make it all the way to the final. If the United States wins Group B and takes care of business in the knockout stage, they could essentially meet El Tri in yet another CONCACAF Gold Cup Final.
