Mexico visited Sam Boyd stadium to take on Iceland in the first friendly of the year. The CantinaMX panel got together to have a live chat during the game. Two of our panelists were onsite and covering the event, but made an appearance after the game.
We initially discussed the pace of Orbelin Pineda and how he lead the group with hustle and dangerous runs. The speediness of this Mexico team was evident, with youngsters such as Hiring Lozano, Jurgen Damm and even striker Alan Pulido. The only soft spot in this speed demon of a team was Giovani Dos Santos.
Audio Link to CantinaMX Podcast Ep. 72
Sure, MLS is in preseason and Gio does not have competitive play at the moment, but you could clearly see how his pace was much less than that of Alan Pulido. Alan would run back to help on recovering the ball, while Gio showed less hustle.
Gio was still dangerous on the free kick that lead to Pulido’s goal. His presence is felt even when not fully fit. We agreed that he still can be a dangerous call up for the confederations cup this summer and not the B squad that would go to the Gold Cup.
It was noted by Panelist, John, that Rafael Marquez was even yelling at Gio and instructing him on where to be and what to do. This brings us to the great 20 year career of the Tricolor captain. Pancho Villas Army chanted his name at minute 4 of the game, to honor the Kaiser. We discussed his possibilities of making it to Russia 2018 and if he could still be effective.
In this game, Mexico played with a backline of 3, with Rafa in the center back position. Initially I feared this placement of Rafa, as he wouldn’t have much support against any speedy strikers. However, Iceland was not speedy at all and it worked out for Rafa and the Mexican defense, who suffered nearly zero dangerous moments throughout the game.
Finally we discussed the “Pecho Frio”, Chucky Lozano and how he missed a couple of clear opportunities. This has become a trend with Chucky and the National Team. He missed some good opportunities in previous games with Mexico even during last summer’s competitions. In particular the header that was woefully taken, was something Jared Borgetti would be ashamed of. It seemed like Chucky closed his eyes and totally mishit the ball. We questioned why aren’t there specialty coaches in LigaMX, such as striker coaches. Chucky could definitely use instruction in the finishing department and Borgetti could be a possibly instructor.
After the game, Juan and Joel came on the chat to discuss their thoughts on tactics, players and the game over all. We also talked the future and two more friendlies being played in the US before going to altitude in El Azteca for qualifiers. The question was asked, why play at altitude, when the players are not accustomed to playing there anymore, as they are mostly in Europe.
It was a fun show, that we hope to do more of in podcasts to come. Thanks for joining us!
