Match preview: México vs. Slovakia

Game: Mexico vs. Slovakia

Date: Saturday, April 10th

Time: 8:00 a.m. Eastern, 7:00 a.m. Central, 5:00 a.m. Pacific, 2:00 p.m. Central European Summer Time (local), 12:00 p.m. UTC

Venue: Wiener Neustädter Stadion (Wiener Neustadt, NÖ)

Television: United States - TUDN; Mexico -TUDN

Streaming: TUDN En Vivo

Photo by Andrea Kareth /SEPA.Media /Getty Images

The “fecha FIFA” gets underway for México as they take on Slovakia in Wiener Neustadt, about 45 minutes drive down the autobahn from Vienna in eastern Austria. This will be the first of two friendlies México will play during the window, the second of which will be in Marbella, Spain against the host country. 45th ranked Slovakia is a good warmup for México, who currently hold the 28th spot.

Slovakia’s squad primarily plays professionally in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria, however some standouts play in the bigger leagues in Europe. Midfielder Dominika Škorvánková plays for Montpelier in the French Division 1 Féminine, goalkeeper

Mária Korenčiová plays with A.C. Milan in Italy’s Seria A Femminile, midfielder Lucia Haršányová plays for MSV Duisberg and defender Jana Vojteková plays for SC Freiburg, both of which are in Germany’s Frauen-Bundesliga. Midfielder Laura Žemberyová plays at the University of Alabama - Birmingham.

México will have a similar squad to their last time out against Costa Rica, and it will be interesting to see how Mónica Vergara lines up against a team that will look much different than the Ticas did. It will also be interesting to see how some of the team reacts to playing on European soil for the first time, as most of the squad plays in Liga MX Femenil or in NCAA.

The few European based players for México will have no such learning curve, and they’ll need to lead the team on and off the field. Kenti Robles and Ceci Santiago have been in Europe for a while with Real Madrid and PSV Eindhoven respectively, while Jimena López has been with Eibar for a few months now. Santiago hasn’t played for PSV in quite a while as she’s coming back from an injury, so it will most likely be Emily Alvarado of Texas Christian University in net. Alvarado has nine shutouts in eleven appearances for third-ranked TCU, including making six saves last week against Oklahoma State.