With the 2014 World Cup in Brazil less than 100 days away, each of the 32 final participants continue to prepare for what they hope will be a memorable experience on one of the biggest stages in sports. Two of those international squads with high hopes include Mexico and Nigeria, with both teams finalizing their respective game plans before a highly-anticipated friendly in the United States. Set to meet at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, the Super Eagles and El Tri will look to use the match as a way to further evaluate their rosters and different line-ups in preparation for the upcoming Brazil games.
Enjoying his duties as first-year El Tri boss, Miguel ‘El Piojo’ Herrera – who led Liga MX affiliate Club America to the 2013 Clausura title – noted recently that the contest against fellow World Cup squad Nigeria will be extremely important since the Super Eagles compare strongly to El Tri’s first summer tournament opponent, Cameroon. Though he will not have the services of Giovani dos Santos for the match – after the 24-year-old injured his calf in a recent Villareal draw with Real Betis – the Mexico boss remains confident in the ability of his remaining squad.
“It will be very important,” he said. “Nigeria has a very competitive team. It will help us a lot to compare it with Cameroon because they have similar styles. We see the names of the Nigerian team and they are quite good. Obviously, Giovani Dos Santos is an important player, but unfortunately that's football. There are injuries that one would not expect to happen. The only thing we can convey is a sense of calm. We will wait to get more details on the depth of his injury and the recovery time in order to make a decision, but hopefully soon.
“Everyone arrived very well yesterday,” El Piojo continued. “As is customary, the first day is used to recover, to take some training in order to stretch their legs from their travels and their games. I saw all in good spirits, good attitude, and good determination and hopefully tomorrow a good match for everybody.”
El Tri Probable XI
G – Guillermo Ochoa; D – Diego Reyes, Hector Moreno, Rafael Marquez; MF – Andres Guardado, Paul Aguilar, Juan Carlos Medina, Hector Herrera, Luis Montes; F – Javier Hernández, Oribe Peralta
Nigeria Probable XI
G – Austin Ejide; D – Godfrey Oboabona, Azubuike Egwueke, Solomon Kwambe, Francis Benjamin; MF – John Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi, Ramon Azeez, Ejike Uzoenyi; F – Shola Ameobi, Victor Moses
Mexico vs. Nigeria: DATE, TIME & VIEWING INFO
DATE: Wednesday, March 5
TIME: 8:30pm, ET
VENUE: Georgia Dome
TV COVERAGE: UniMás / ESPNEWS / Univision Deportes
LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE
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