The Mexico vs Finland friendly match will take place this Wednesday, October 30, 2013 (8:00 PM Pacific) at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. This match will mark the first Mexico game under new coach Miguel Herrera who will use a Club America based squad. The Mexican national team is going through the most concerning time in their history, as they will face New Zealand mid-November in the Intercontinental Playoff where the winner will reach the FIFA World Cup.
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View the Mexico vs Finland 4-2 Highlights here.
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The ‘tricolor’ is at a point where fans have learned to hate their national team. Many feel as if ‘el tri’ does not merit an opportunity in a wild-card series against New Zealand following their disastrous performances in the past CONCACAF qualifiers. Nonetheless, faith, and a USA miracle, has Mexico with life for their playoff games on November 11th and 20th against the ‘kiwis’.
This Wednesday, the team coached by ‘Piojo’ Herrera will play an important friendly against an opponent like Finland who has similar characteristics to New Zealand. Like New Zealand, Finland has tall players, a solid defense, strong set pieces, but also lack star players. Mexico will use the game in San Diego not only to obtain confidence with their new coach, but also to gain experience against strong defensive teams.
Part of the great controversy leading the Mexican national team in the qualifiers was the use of the ‘European’ players like Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, Andres Guardado, or Giovani Dos Santos who fans felt they did not contribute to good performances. Maybe the players have the talent, but in reality, those players never seemed to understand how to play with their Liga MX national teammates. That is why ‘Piojo’ made the strong decision to call 10 of his Club America players, plus another Liga MX players for the long 3 week concentration.
With no ‘Europeans’, Herrera has the opportunity to train the players for a longer time, while using a base of Club America will allow Mexico to play as the successful ‘Aguilas’. The match against Finland will be crucial to understanding the form in which Mexico is currently at, and also to realize if it will be necessary to call-up any of the players currently in European leagues. Prior to the game against Finland, Mexico played a small friendly against Liga de Ascenso side, Altamira, who they defeated 4-0.
Mexico vs Finland Prediction
The Mexico vs Finland friendly will be an interesting match which Mexico has to win, and win nicely. By ‘nicely’, it is not necessarily meant by a large sum of goals, but rather by dominating the sphere, and by demonstrating that the players know what the coach needs, and wants from them.
This Wednesday, Mexico will dominate, use a 5-3-2 formation, and win in good fashion. The Mexico vs Finland game will end in a 2-0 win for the tricolor.
Mexico vs Finland TV Schedule
The Mexico vs Finland match will be televised this Wednesday, October 30, 2013 on Unimas at 8:00 PM Pacific.
Mexico vs Finland Highlights
The Mexico vs Finland video highlights will be uploaded as soon as the match ends.
