Mexico Vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2012 International Friendly: Chicharito Nets Late Winner

In the 80th minute, he forced a quick double save after he made two shots in the box. His first shot was saved by Begovic, and he tried again on the rebound, which was saved by an outfield player at the goalmouth. He found little space until his winner, when he again made a quick shot, which was stopped by Begovic, before poking a toe on the rebound that squirted into the goal. It was not the prettiest goal, but it could prove useful for the Manchester United striker’s confidence as Mexico moves into World Cup qualifying.

El Tri remain the best team in CONCACAF by a long ways and probably won’t be tested en route to qualification for the 2014 World Cup, but weirder things have happened in qualifying before. They certainly want to be playing well when they begin qualifying and tonight, Mexico takes on Bosnia-Herzegovina in Chicago, IL as part of their qualifying preparations.

The lineup for Mexico is clearly somewhat experimental as they try to figure out their best XI. The defense is still a question mark, but the biggest question for the time is in the midfield, where El Tri are still trying to figure out who will play in the double pivot. It looks like one of them will be Jesus Zavala’s, but the spot next to him is still very much up for grabs. Anyone want it? Anyone? Bueller?

Mexico is without a number of their best young talents, as they play in a separate Under-23 tournament in preparation for the Olympics. This means that a number of fringe players in the 23-to-25-year-old age range are getting chances at playing time with El Tri. Jesus Molina, Edgar Andrade, Jesus Zavala, Hugo Ayala and Severo Meza fall into this category. Meza, Andrade and Zavala all started against Wales. Meza put in a good showing at right back, and might have an opportunity to take over that spot full time if he can put in another good performance.

Game Date/Time: Thursday, 9 p.m. ET