The Netherlands set to host El Tri in an international friendly.
El Tri and Holland have faced each a total of eight times. The Netherlands having the with a 4-3-1 record. The most memorable of eight matches came was on June 29th, 2014. That is the infamous “ No era penal” game. Now, Mexico has traveled to Europe to face the Dutch national team. Gerardo “Tata” Martino will have to leave several players that he had in mind for these matches since they have commitments with their respective teams over the weekend and
El Tri took the flight to the Old Continent this past Thursday. Martino has excluded a few of his regulars from the latest squad, with Miguel Layun, Carlos Salcedo, and Erick Gutierrez. Meanwhile, Guillermo Ochoa suffered an injury with his Club America team and did not make the trip. After beating Guatemala at Azteca Stadium, Tata announced that the list of players who will end up getting an opportunity in Europe was made up of players from Liga MX, MLS, and part of the legion that plays on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. From Mexico, the players who traveled with El Tri are Rodolfo Cota, Hugo González, Alfredo Talavera, Jesús Gallardo, César Montes, Luis Rodríguez, Luis Romo, Jorge Sánchez, Gilberto Sepúlveda, and Henry Martin. Carlos Rodriguez was a last-minute scratch after he tested positive for the Coronavirus and did not travel with the team.
Meanwhile, players from MLS like Jonathan Dos Santos, Rodolfo Pizarro and Alan Pulido joined the players who are in European leagues as: Edson Álvarez, Néstor Araujo, Gerardo Arteaga, Alejandro Gómez, Héctor Moreno , Omar Govea, Andrés Guardado, Héctor Herrera, Diego Lainez, Jesús Manuel Corona and Raúl Jiménez. Hirving “El Chucky” Lozano was called up, but due to players in his current team in Napoli testing positive for Covid-19, he didn’t make the trip.
The action is set to kick off today at 230pm E.T. when the Netherlands plays hosts to Mexico at the Johan Cruyff Arena. The Dutch had been riding a wave of hope over the last two years, having gone from strength to strength under Ronald Koeman. However, the Netherlands has been thrown into a transition once again, with Koeman now in Barcelona. Frank de Boer has been appointed as the new Dutch head coach, with the Netherlands set for their first game under the new boss against Mexico.
El Tri, on the other hand, is on more stable ground, having been playing under the tutelage of Gerardo Martino for nearly two years now. In fact, El Tri has lost just once since the former Barcelona manager took charge of the national side, with that sole defeat coming over a year ago against Argentina. Mexico was victorious the last time they locked horns with the Netherlands, back in 2014, winning a thrilling encounter 3-2, with Carlos Vela scoring a goal. It is safe to say, that the Netherlands is in a transition period, but they are a strong home team. Overall, in their last 10 matches, they have gone 5-3-2. For their part, Mexico has gone 9-0-1 in their last ten.
