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After an incredibly disappointing debut in the present U-20 World Cup, Mexico will play their second game against Germany. Germany, the seeded team in the group, are in desperate need of the win after surprisingly losing their opener against Venezuela. Mexico are also in need of points after their terrible performance against Vanuatu left a bad taste in the mouth of many El Tri fans.
Mexico opened their tournament facing what most people thought was the weakest team in the tournament in Vanuatu. With the four best third-placed teams going through to the knockout games, it was expected that a big win would put Mexico through to the next round. Instead, their performance in the game was a total disappointment and what should've been an easy goal fest turned into a tied game that was only won in the last minute. For all the expectation that playing with each other for years will make this Mexico team into a cohesive unit, they looked anything but and terrible passes and constantly losing possession of the ball was the norm. Vanuatu was a totally inferior technical side but were able to level the score based just on physicality and speed, while Mexico depended on individual talent and not a solid attacking plan. While it's true that Mexico might have suffered from jitters on their first game in the competition, the fact of the matter is that in the game against the weakest team in the group, they looked way below average and it doesn't bode well for the future.
Germany will be coming into the game in a must win situation after surprising everybody by losing their opening game against Venezuela. The German team was already suffering from what many people believe was a weaker squad because of Bundesliga players not allowing players to go to the competition. Still, Venezuela is a good team, including having star Adalberto Peñaranda with the team. Even if it was a loss, it was a better performance than Mexico's. Even if it's a weaker team compared to what they could've brought, it still could be a better team than Mexico's and the performances so far show that they should be considered the favorites.
Mexico will need to improve in every way if they want to beat Germany or do something in this tournament. Still the three points mean that a tie can basically wrap up qualification for Mexico. Also the fact that Venezuela won their first game, means that a victory against Vanuatu (which should be the result unless a huge upset happens) will qualify them to the next stage and they should rest players in their game against Mexico, especially with such a short time between games. So the fact of the matter is that Mexico can have a second (even better) chance to book their ticket if they fail to do so against Germany. That said, Mexico should go for it and take advantage that Germany did bring a weaker squad. They, however, need to play a lot better, and hopefully, most of the improvement comes from coach Marco Antonio "Chima" Ruiz because so far it doesn't look like there is much optimism in this team.
Date: Tuesday, May 23
Time: 4:00 AM Pacific, 6:00 AM Central, 7:00 AM Eastern
Venue: Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon
Television: Telemundo (US-Spanish), Fox Sports 1 (US), TDN (Mexico), Canal 5 Televisa (Mexico)
Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Fox Sports GO, Fox Soccer 2GO, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo