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El Tri: Mexico vs Chile: Trying to erase the shame of 7-0

By Thomas Buckley

MONTERREY, MEXICO - OCTOBER 11: "El Tigre" and "Kin", Tigres and Mexico's National Team's mascots respectively, pose prior the international friendly match between Mexico and Costa Rica at Universitario Stadium on October 11, 2018 in Monterrey, Mexico. (Photo by Azael Rodriguez/Getty Images)
MONTERREY, MEXICO - OCTOBER 11: "El Tigre" and "Kin", Tigres and Mexico's National Team's mascots respectively, pose prior the international friendly match between Mexico and Costa Rica at Universitario Stadium on October 11, 2018 in Monterrey, Mexico. (Photo by Azael Rodriguez/Getty Images) /
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El Tri will play its 14th game of the year Tuesday night, hosting Chile in Querétaro’s Estadio Corregidora. The friendly will be the first rematch since “La Roja” handed Mexico its worst-ever defeat in an official game – the 7-0 shellacking in Santa Clara during the 2016 Copa América.

Mexico is 6-1-6 so far in 2018 with 12 goals for and 16 goals against. The team’s 3-2 win over Costa Rica on Thursday night ended its 4-game losing streak (a stretch during which El Tri was outscored 1-10). Mexico and Chile have faced each other 30 times with Mexico enjoying a slight advantage (15-4-11, with 33 goals for and 38 goals against).

All indications are that Coach Tuca Ferretti will use his more seasoned players against Chile, the new wave of “Europeans.” That includes midfielder Erick Gutiérrez who joined PSV Eindhoven on Aug. 29 and defender Néstor Araujo who moved to Spain over the summer where he now plays for Celta de Vigo.
Also expected to start are “Chucky” Lozano (PSV Eindhoven), Raúl Jiménez (Wolverhampton), Marco Fabián (Eintracht Frankfurt), Jesús Corona (Porto) and Diego Reyes (Fenerbahce).
If Araujo and Reyes line up in central defense, it would mark their return to the pitch for Mexico since before the World Cup. Both were expected to make the 2018 Russia roster but missed out due to injury. Araujo injured a knee in a friendly in late March, while Reyes was in the pre-World Cup training camp trying to fight through a thigh muscle injury.
Coach Ferretti prefers a 4-3-3 tactical alignment with width. That is, he likes his fullbacks to patrol the flanks and link up with the wingers. On occasion, he’ll switch to a 3-man back line in an effort to establish greater control in midfield.

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Chile is undergoing a renewal process after its disastrous World Cup qualifying campaign. The “andinos” failed to qualify for Russia 2018 despite being ranked No. 9 in the FIFA world rankings. “La roja” had won the 2016 and the 2017 Copa América and was loaded with experienced European-based players, but the team finished in 6 th place in the Conmebol standings, behind Peru.
Chile’s coach Reinaldo Rueda still has some familiar names to call upon – Alexis Sánchez Arturo Vidal and Enzo Roco, for instance – as well as three Liga MX players – Necaxa’s Víctor Dávila and Matías Fernández plus Cruz Azul’s Igor Lichnovsky.
Heading into the match, Chile is ranked No. 12 and El Tri sits at No. 15. The new rankings will come out on Oct. 25.
Mexico will be eager to erase the shame of the humiliating 7-0 loss, in particular the 6 players on the roster who were present that day in Levi’s Stadium – Araujo, Reyes, Corona, Jiménez, “Chucky” and Jesús Dueñas.
El Salvador’s Joel Aguilar will be the referee.

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