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El Tri in spotlight, Liga MX poised to return

By Thomas Buckley

Jesús Corona dazzled with his footwork against the Netherlands in El Tri's 1-0 win in Amsterdam. (Photo by Laurens Lindhout/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Jesús Corona dazzled with his footwork against the Netherlands in El Tri's 1-0 win in Amsterdam. (Photo by Laurens Lindhout/Soccrates/Getty Images) /
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Liga MX, FIFA break
Edson Álvarez held his own against an aggressive Dutch midfield. ANP MAURICE VAN STEEN (Photo by ANP Sport via Getty Images) /

Team Mexico to face Algeria as Liga MX preps for stretch run

Liga MX resumes action on Thursday night when Querétaro and San Luis kick off Matchday 14. But before we start down the home stretch of the Guardianes 2020, the national team will treat us to another international friendly from the Netherlands.

El Tri should have no shortage of confidence after an impressive win over the Dutch in Amsterdam on Friday. Up next – on Tuesday in The Hague – is Algeria, No. 35 in the FIFA World Rankings.

Mexico – world No. 11 – edged the 13th-ranked Dutch thanks to a Raúl Jiménez second-half penalty conversion. Winger Jesús Corona earned most of the plaudits with a spectacular first-half display, while Héctor Herrera and Edson Álvarez wreaked havoc in midfield, disrupting Dutch possessions time and again. Goalie Alfredo Talavera also made some splendid saves.

Coach “Tata” Martino is set to make a number of changes to his starting 11 with a 25-man roster at his disposal. Early indications were that Luis Romo (Cruz Azul) and Jona dos Santos (LA Galaxy) would replace Edson Álvarez (Ajax) and Andrés Guardado (Real Betis) in midfield. On the back line, César Montes (Monterrey) will be replaced by Néstor Araujo (Celta Vigo) while Jorge Sánchez (América) will stand in for “Chaka” Rodríguez (Tigres) at right back.

We might also see youngsters Diego Lainez (Real Betis), Jesús Gómez (Boavista) and Gilberto Sepúlveda (Chivas) get meaningful time.

With the 1-0 win on Friday, Martino extended his impressive start with El Tri to 17-1-1, including a victory in the 2019 Gold Cup final against Team USA. “Tata” took over from Juan Carlos Osorio in January 2019.

The coach cautioned against reading too much into the win over “The Clockwork Orange.”

“We had a good game, but I think we can play better,” Martino said. “We used the same tactics as we did against Argentina, but this time around we didn’t have breakdowns and individual mistakes, and we didn’t turn the ball over in our own territory.”

“Tata” was referencing his lone loss while commanding the Tricolor. That setback was a bitter 4-0 rout at the hands of Argentina in a friendly played in San Antonio in September of last year.

The Argentine tactician had guided Mexico to the Gold Cup title just two months before the stinker against Martino’s countrymen. So pundits and critics were waiting to pounce should Team Mexico have flopped against the Netherlands.

Instead El Tri looked steady and confident, although “Tata” thinks Mexico should have closed out the game more neatly. In post-game remarks, the coach lamented sloppy transition play in the game’s final 15 minutes, mistakes that allowed the hosts to sustain pressure as they chased the equalizer.

Anything short of a win, however, will ruin the FIFA break for El Tri and its fans.

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