Hoping to find increased consistency heading into the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Mexican National Soccer team will enter multiple friendlies against international teams leading up to the June 12 tournament start date. While matches against the United States (April 2), Ecuador (May 31), Bosnia-Herzegovina (June 3) and Portugal (June 6) will serve as tremendous ways of evaluating the club, an upcoming contest against Nigeria could be the most important match for first-year national team manager Miguel Herrera, who hopes to solidify his core group of players with confidence for the duration of the highly-anticipated summer games.
Already possessing 16 players from the talented Liga MX – including four players from popular clubs León and América – Miguel ‘El Piojo’ Herrera elected to invite eight Europe-based players to the team ahead of the 2014 World Cup. The most popular of the invitees is current Manchester United striker Javier Hernández, who hopes to fit comfortably with his native team after experiencing minimal playing time at Old Trafford. Mexican favorite Giovani Dos Santos (member of Villareal) was also granted a place for the March 5 friendly against Nigeria along with Andres Guardado (Bayer Leverkusen) and Hector Moreno (Espanyol).
Javier Aquino, a teammate of Dos Santos with La Liga affiliate Villareal, will suit up for El Tri as well while Hector Herrera (Porto), Diego Reyes (Porto) and Guillermo Ochoa (Ajaccio) cap off the list of invitees participating in the Nigeria game. Excited to see what these players can offer, Miguel Herrera said recently that the showcase game – which will be played in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome – will be a great opportunity to evaluate his team since Nigeria is very similar to Mexico’s opening World Cup opponent Cameroon. With 40,000 tickets already sold, the atmosphere is sure to be electric, with this game serving as one of the most highest-attended games in Atlanta, Georgia history.
“The game will be very useful for us and I am sure that the people in Atlanta will respond well as they have done everywhere, always backing the team in a very positive way,” Herrera said. “It will be a very attractive game, obviously the only match in which we are going to see the Mexicans that are currently playing Europe. Atlanta is a great city. We’ve played there with some teams and the people have responded sensationally. The Georgia Dome is a good stadium with an important capacity. It has a rich history, with football and the Olympics. Nigeria is going to be an extraordinary opponent for us, very similar to what we are going to face against Cameroon in the opening match of the World Cup.”
Full El Tri Roster for March 5 Friendly vs. Nigeria
Hector Moreno - Espanyol
Guillermo Ochoa - Ajaccio
Javier Hernandez - Manchester United
Diego Reyes - Porto
Hector Herrera- Porto
Javier Aquino - Villarreal
Giovani dos Santos -Villarreal
Andres Guardado - Bayer Leverkusen
Jesus Corona – Cruz Azul
Moises Muñoz – America
Paul Aguilar - América
Enrique Perez – Atlas
Juan Carlos Valenzuela – America
Rafael Marquez – Leon
Francisco Javier Rodriguez – America
Miguel Ponce – Toluca
Miguel Layun – America Jose
Juan Vazquez – Leon
Juan Carlos Medina – America
Isaac Brizuela – Toluca
Luis Montes – Leon
Carlos Peña – Leon
Alan Pulido – Tigres
Oribe Peralta – Santos
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