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Liga MX: Santos Laguna heads to Charlotte for FIFA break

By Garett Kerber

TORREON, MEXICO - AUGUST 26: Goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco (L) and Hugo Nervo (R) of Santos celebrate the first goal of his team scored by teammate Deinner Quiñones (Not in Frame) during the 7th round match between Santos Laguna and Cruz Azul as part of the Torneo Apertura 2018 Liga MX at Corona Stadium on August 26, 2018 in Torreon, Mexico. (Photo by Armando Marin/Jam Media/Getty Images)
TORREON, MEXICO - AUGUST 26: Goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco (L) and Hugo Nervo (R) of Santos celebrate the first goal of his team scored by teammate Deinner Quiñones (Not in Frame) during the 7th round match between Santos Laguna and Cruz Azul as part of the Torneo Apertura 2018 Liga MX at Corona Stadium on August 26, 2018 in Torreon, Mexico. (Photo by Armando Marin/Jam Media/Getty Images) /
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The 2018 Clausura champions head to Charlotte on September 5th for a friendly match against USL side, Charlotte Independence.

First of all, happy 35th birthday to Los Guerreros! Founded on September 4, 1983, Santos Laguna officially marks their birthday by heading to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on Charlotte Independence.

Charlotte is currently in the midst of a USL season that has them on 32 points in 27 matches, an 8-8-11 record. Their performances have left them sitting 24th in the combined USL table, 12th in the Eastern Conference.

Santos comes into the friendly after a 2-1 loss to Toluca, but certainly happy with their 5th place performance in Liga MX, thus far. After a tumultuous offseason that saw them lose their top goal scorer, their best midfielder and their best center back, coach Robert Siboldi and his staff resigned after an altercation with a player. What looked to be a difficult season, turned more daunting.

Interim boss Salvador Reyes has been fantastic for Los Guerreros, however. With his guidance, Julio Furch and Jona Rodriguez up top and Brian Lozano in the midfield, Santos Laguna has found a formula that has been working well for them.

What should make this friendly interesting for both sides, though, is that it comes during a FIFA international break. Defenders Jose Abella, Jesus Angulo and Gerardo Arteaga will be with Mexico for their international friendlies with Uruguay and the United States. In addition, it would be shocking to see Furch, Rodriguez, or Lozano in the starting XI.

With that being said, Santos fans should be excited to see how some of their sub 20s and bench players stack up against the USL side.  Expect to see a Santos team that looks fairly similar to the squads called upon for Copa MX matches. You know, the one that only gained two points in 4 matches against Pachuca and Celaya. That might be a tough sell, but they’ll surely want this change to prove themselves, even though it is a friendly against a weak US 2nd tier side.

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All in all, this will be a friendly match between two teams in the heart of their season. For fans of the clubs, however, it represents an opportunity to see what kind of depth and youth they have, or, in Charlotte’s case, how they might stack up against a portion of the club that won the best league in North America.

If you live in the area, I encourage you to check out this friendly. It’s always a treat when a Liga MX club comes to play in a US city, anyway, and fans have the opportunity to show the club that soccer’s popularity is growing in the USA, possibly helping the league reach out a bit more into the English-speaking population. That’s a win-win for everyone.

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