New Mexico Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson had to piece together a national team side heavy on youth and short on established names, and the result was a 1-0 loss to South Americans Chile in front 32,924 largely Mexican fans at the Coliseum in Los Angeles.
Wednesday night's friendly gave the new Mexico skipper a chance to take in a few non-regular players, especially younger footballers. Since Wednesday was not a recognized FIFA international date, many of Mexico's top players were not released from their club teams for the game.
The game's only goal came in the 75th minute, off the foot of Mexico defender Juan Carlos Valenzuela.
Among the older players who got a shot against Chile were forward Francisco Fonseca, midfielders Antonio Naelson and Luis Ernesto Perez and defender Faustino Pinto. Among the notable youngsters was 20-year-old Club America forward Enrique Esqueda.
Mexico came out aggressively, pushing Chile back onto their half of the field. But Chile's own young squad regrouped after struggling to get past the Mexico backline early on.
The miscue by Valenzuela came off a tough cross from Chile's Jose Pedro Fuenzalida from the right side.
Chile resumes World Cup qualifying against Ecuador in Quito and Argentina in Santiago this October. Mexico's upcoming World Cup qualifiers are on the road at Jamaica and Canada.
