Buoyed by their pulsating extra time victory over the United States in their Confederations Cup playoff in Pasadena on Saturday, Mexico will look to continue their good run of form with a win over Panama in Tuesday’s friendly. They haven’t lost a game since a relatively disappointing Copa América campaign in June, and impressively held Argentina to a 2-2 draw away in Texas last month.
Mexico vs. Panama 2015 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch El Tri online
Fresh from their impressive Confederations Cup playoff win over the USMNT, Mexico host Panama in a friendly on Tuesday.
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However, that doesn’t mean they should be expecting Panama to roll over. The Central American side showed precisely what they’re capable of with a Gold Cup victory over the United States in July, and have beaten Mexico twice in the sides’ last five encounters. Though they’re clearly the weaker team on personnel, it’d be a big surprise if Hernán Darío Gómez’s side didn’t give Mexico a tough time here.
Key factor: Will Mexico switch things up?
Panama could yet benefit from Mexico switching things around. El Tri played 120 minutes of football in their win over the United States on the weekend, and it's likely to take them a few days to recover. That means we could see a few unfamiliar faces given some game time by Mexico's interim coach Ricardo Ferretti in this match, perhaps playing into Panama's hands.
When they last met: Panama 1-2 Mexico, July 23, 2015
These sides last met in the semifinal of the Gold Cup back in July. It was a tight game that went right down to the wire, and Mexico were reliant on a big helping hand from referee Mark Geiger to advance.
Panama had striker Luis Tejada sent off midway through the first period, but opened the scoring through Román Torres early in the second half. It seemed they were heading for an unlikely win, only for Andrés Guardado to equalize from the penalty spot in the 10th (that’s tenth!) minute of stoppage time. Mexico were awarded a second penalty in extra time, and Guardado again scored to send Mexico into the final. CONCACAF later pledged an inquiry after it was alleged that the game was fixed.
Match Date/Time: Tues., 10 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. local
Venue: Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca de Lerdo, Mexico
TV: UniMás, Univision Deportes (US - Spanish)
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