Mexico looks for the sweep vs Martinique
The quest for their 8th CONCACAF Gold Cup continues this Sunday when the Mexican national team faces Martinique in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The generation of Gerardo “Tata” Martino is off to an immaculate start with a perfect 6-0-0 record in all competitions. Currently, they are dominating the CONCACAF Gold Cup group phase with a 7-0 victory over Cuba and coming off a 3-1 victory over a legitimate contender in Canada. Martino and his men put pressure for 90 minutes on their opponents defense ready to capitalize on their mistakes. The Seleccion de Mexico has scored at least three goals in all games under Gerardo “Tata” Martino, averaging 5 goals per match in the tournament.
To many, Uriel Antuna has been the surprised appearance of the tournament. The 21 year old forward from LA Galaxy [on loan from Manchester City] who barely earned a spot on Tata’s 23-man roster has made the most of his opportunities. Currently, he is the leading scorer in the tournament with his hat-trick versus Cuba in his debut, notching an assist in both games while playing 90+ minutes. The man with most goals in Gold Cup history for Mexico with 12, Andres Guardado, managed to find the back of the net twice in their last brace versus Canada after coming in as a substitute in the 37th minute.
It may be a rough stretch for both teams who endured a 10-Hour plane delay Thursday night. Due to a problem with one of the tires of the plane who had previously flown the Canadian and Cuban National teams to Charlotte earlier in the day. Teams did not end up getting into their hotel room until about 5am Friday morning with Martinique getting in a little later.
The Mexican National team will look for the group stage sweep as they get set to face Martinique and finish atop as the leader in their group. Martinique is tied with three points in the group with Canada but third in the standings due to a -1 goal differential. Thinking ahead in the quarterfinals, Martino will look to give some of his starting XI less minutes. Mexico will have five substitutions available and may use up every single one of them. Meaning, many new faces may be making their debut for El Tri this Sunday; players such as Rodolfo Pizarro and Hector Moreno, who lost their starting position due to injury, but are expected to be back in time for the final game of the group stage. Martinique will look to take advantage and capitalize in hopes of ending the night with three points in their favor and advance to quarterfinals should Canada draw or lose against Cuba.
