Mexico Faces Nigeria in Preparation for Gold Cup
Mexico is back in Los Angeles this Saturday for their last preparation game before the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.This will be their first time visiting the Coliseum since 2017, this time around facing off against the Nigerian National Team. It’ll also be their last preparation game for El Tri before their Gold Cup opener on July 10th.
Leading up to this final prep game, Mexico tied 0-0 against Honduras and most recently rolled past Panama 3-0. Now for their final friendly before the tournament, they’ll want to finish strong. The three biggest narratives surrounding El Tri has been of course the infamous “grito”, their striker woes/ controversy, and their recent loss to U.S.A in the Nations League final. The Gold Cup has the potential to lay all three of these issues to rest, making it that much more important.
FIFA has already dictated punishment to the Mexico team, with the threat of further punishment if the fans continue to be disruptive. As of now, FIFA has stated Mexico will have to play two games without fans as part of their punishment besides the FMF having to pay a fine. Those games have yet to be disclosed. However, the situation around the “grito” seems to be progressing , with the game against Panama reporting no real incidents. During the game ‘Memo’ Ochoa even thanked the fans for cooperating. It will now remain to be seen if the fans in California can behave the same way, and even further as Mexico plays throughout the Gold Cup.
Perhaps the most pressing narrative surrounding El Tri however is their striker controversy. It’s no secret they need to do better up front, but the way they are trying to solve this issue has been quite the head-scratcher for fans. The solution to their woes is, to many fans, a familiar one. Chicharito Hernandez is currently on a tear in Major League Soccer, having scored 10 goals in 10 games for the LA Galaxy. He would seemingly be the answer to El Tri’s striker problem. But Tata has other solutions in mind. His solution this time around has to been to bring on recently naturalized Rogelio Funes Mori. The decision has left many Mexico fans scratching their heads as the apparent black-balling of Chicharito becomes even more apparent.
All of this to say, the game against Nigeria is another stepping stone to remedying these worries. It will be important to see if Mexico fans in Los Angeles are able to have self-control to prevent themselves from causing harm with the “grito”. The fan’s in Nashville seemed to behave appropriately, hopefully the fans in Los Angeles can follow suit. It will be most interesting to see how Mexico’s offense will fare. If their struggles continue offensively, the claims for Chicharito will only grow stronger. While the Nigeria game won’t be the final answer to these questions, it can serve as a good barometer.
For those of you in the Los Angeles area, be sure to stop by La Chuperia (3742 Flower St, Los Angeles, CA) at 5pm to join El Tri Online as we discuss the game against Nigeria as well as the upcoming Gold Cup at our Pregame show. If you’re not in the area you can join in on the fun and discussion across our various social media platforms on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Twitch.
