After several years of organizational chaos, the Mexico national team doesn’t generate the same fear that it once did. The squad got old, the managers were being hired and fired faster than you could track, and they only barely made it in to last year’s World Cup.
Mexico vs. Paraguay 2015: Time, TV schedule and team news
Miguel Herrera has almost gotten Mexico back to its usual dominant self, and can take another step in that direction when they play Paraguay in the United States.
Now, under the watchful eye of the energetic Miguel Herrera, Mexico are slowly righting the ship and getting back on track. He’s started bedding in the next generation of talent in to the side, and has seen his side win all but two of their matches since the World Cup, gaining revenge on the Netherlands for their Round of 16 loss along the way. Now with two big summer competitions looming, it’s time to start invoking fear again.
With a friendly coming up against the United States next month, this neutral-ground friendly on the soil of their eternal rival is a good chance to show the USMNT what they have in store. Paraguay are a side ripe for the kicking, with the South Americans having won just one of their last seven matches and two of twelve. Worse, they simply don’t have the pace or midfield to keep up with their opponents -- if Mexico go all out, this match could get ugly, fast.
Key Player - Jonathan dos Santos (Mexico)
The 24-year-old midfielder was rested against Ecuador last week, but dos Santos is a near certainty to start Tuesday. The younger brother of Giovani dos Santos, one of the stars of this Mexico side, this dos Santos brother has only been a fringe part of the national side up until now, only earning eight senior caps. Jonathan has finally been coming in to his own at the club level, though, starring alongside Giovani with Villarreal and forcing people to realize that whatever Mexico do on the international stage for the next few years, their odds of success will be much higher with Jonathan involved at the heart of midfield. This match against Paraguay will be a good chance for him to show what he can do, and hopefully lead to him being a lock for future lineups as well.
Key Question - What experiment will Miguel Herrera run today?
Mexico's expressive, exuberant, and exciting manager is never afraid to experiment with his lineups and tactics, and this match against Paraguay seems like a fair chance to do just that. Herrera has a versatile squad at his disposal for this match and managed to keep them from expending too much energy in their 1-0 win over Ecuador last week, so he'll have plenty of options available in terms of who to play and what formation to roll with. With the Copa America coming up in just two and a half months and the CONCACAF Gold Cup just weeks after that, Herrera is running out of time to figure out how he wants to approach those competitions in terms of tactics and squad, so whatever he tries today could be very telling in terms of how Mexico play this summer.
Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. local
Venue: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A.
TV: ESPN 2 (U.S. - English), UniMas (U.S. - Spanish), Canal 5 Televisa, Azteca 7, TDN (Mexico)
Online: Watch ESPN (U.S.)
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