If Mexico’s team selections are based more on on play on the field than Chepo de la Torre’s favorites, there has just been a serious change in the hierarchy of the attacking midfield position for El Tri. With 35-year-old Sinha away in Brazil following the death of his father, both Giovani Dos Santos and Christian ‘Hobbit’ Bermudez were given 45 minutes of game time against New Zealand on Wednesday night. Both were great, with Dos Santos scoring a brace, as Mexico coasted to a 3-0 victory.
Mexico Vs. New Zealand Final Score: Giovani Dos Santos Leads El Tri To 3-0 Win
Despite the unfortunate circumstances that caused them to be granted that playing time, both were absolutely brilliant tonight, and as a result could move ahead of the veteran on the depth chart. El Tri kicks off their Gold Cup campaign on Sunday against El Salvador, where Dos Santos will be the expected starter.
Aldo de Nigris played all 90 minutes up top as Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez was rested, and he scored a goal in the process. However, that goal was a simple tap-in, and de Nigris was actually quite poor outside of that finish. He was also poor in Mexico’s previous friendly against Ecuador, so the addition of Chicharito to the lineup will be welcome.
For New Zealand, there are no competitive fixtures on the immediate slate, so this was simply a run-out to get some players some more international experience. As a whole, the team was disappointing in all areas, despite their massive size advantage over Mexico. Their midfield was thoroughly dominated and they were unable to stop Mexico’s wingers from getting whatever they wanted.
This result was an encouraging one for El Tri, who should be confident heading into that match against El Salvador.
For more on this game, the Gold Cup, and Mexican football, visit SB Nation’s Mexican football blog FMF State Of Mind.
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