The Tata Martino Era is set to begin for El Tri vs Chile in SoCal
The Mexican National soccer team practiced at the Chula Vista Elite Training Center one last time as they get ready to square off versus South American powerhouse Chile. The Mexican team, lead by Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Wolverhampton striker Raul Jimenez, enjoyed very nice weather shared a few laughs as they closed out their training session earlier today.
The Mexican team will be playing in its third FIFA date after the 2018 World Cup. The game on Friday versus Chile will also mark the official debut of Gerardo “Tata” Martino as head coach of El Tri.
The Tata Martino era begins against none other than a Chilean team that has dominated the Mexican squad in recent matches, including a humiliating 7-0 beat down in Copa America Centenario in Santa Clara, CA.
Martino, who has an impressive track record, is coming off winning the MLS Cup with Atlanta United. Thursday, Martino experienced the power of the Mexican National team brand as nearly 100 media members crammed up a small conference room at the Westin in the San Diego Gaslamp District.
Tata spent about 32 minutes talking to the press before his debut. The new Mexican skipper sounded optimistic about his feature with the team “I’m very satisfied with the Mexican player’s disposition. They are fully committed and don’t hold anything back. We saw it at the mini-camp in February and here this week. I’m very optimistic because they bought into my system.” For their part, the team from the Andes are hoping to continue their success versus Mexico, but their coach, Reinaldo Rueda knows it won’t be an easy task: “every time we play Mexico it’s always a tough and interesting game.”
Rueda will be without Manchester United star Alexis Sanchez but will count with the services of their superstar El Rey, Arturo Vidal. The Barcelona midfielder arrived yesterday evening in San Diego amidst a media frenzy at the International airport with members of the press pushing and shoving as they tried to get a couple of words from the Chilean play-maker, who opted not to speak to the media.
This morning Vidal practiced with the rest of his team and looked very comfortable as he acclimated with his teammates. The meeting will the 34th time these squads face-off. Mexico holds the advantage with 17 victories; however, they have managed to win only three out of their last 11.
Friday night Tata will begin a new coaching cycle for a Mexican squad whose fans will demand immediate results, and it’s imperative that his team leaves San Diego with a positive outcome to avoid early backlash from the fans or media.
The game is expected to be another sell-out crowd at the San Diego County Credit Union Stadium in what is the first game for El Tri in their annual US MexTour. The game will kick off at 7:15 pm Pacific Time and will air live on Univision.
