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Summertime is nearly upon us, and as summer goes, no other team will play more games this summer than the Mexico national team. For el Tri, it all begins this Saturday when they take on Croatia at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. This will mark the first of two friendlies for Mexico ahead of the return of World Cup Qualifying.
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio is expected to experiment with both veterans and youngsters, as the basic structure of this team is still taking shape. Oswaldo Alanís, Jesús Dueñas, Orbelín Pineda, Javier Aquino, Jürgen Damm, Marco Fabián, Raúl Jiménez and Carlos Salcedo are all absent for El Tri.
From a Croatia perspective, they, too, will also field an experimental side when they take the pitch on Saturday. Part of that is because the majority of the team that has traveled to Los Angeles is essentially a reserve side.
Mexico obviously have the more talent, but the fact that neither side will play at their best is the match’s biggest caveat. Finding the right balance without a complete squad will definitely be a challenge for Juan Carlos Osorio, but at this point of the preparation process, it is about staying healthy and gaining rhythm for the upcoming matches.
Date: Saturday May 27
Time: 5:00 PM Pacific, 7:00 PM Central, 8:00 PM Eastern
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Television: Univision(US-Spanish), Univision Deportes Network(US-Spanish), Azteca 13 (Mexico), UnivisionTDN(Mexico), TDN(Mexico)
Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Fox Soccer 2Go, Fox Sports Go, Univision NOW