Mexico vs. Chile
International Friendly
Sat., Sept. 6, 2014, 9 pm ET (UniMas, ESPN3)
Levi's Stadium – Santa Clara, Calif.
Mexico manager Miguel Herrera was El Tri's knight in shining armor, salvaging their 2014 World Cup campaign and taking them on a memorable run in Brazil. Now he gets to shape the road to Russia 2018 himself.
FRESH START
It starts with two September matches against South American opposition in Chile (Santa Clara, California) and Bolivia (Denver, Colorado). For those dates Herrera has called in 10 new players who were not at the World Cup, including Chivas USA forward Erick "El Cubo" Torres, who has 14 goals to his name in MLS.
Debutant defenders Oswaldo Alanis (Santos) and 30-year-old Luis Gerardo Venegas (Atlas) could see time in Herrera's five-man backline with veteran Rafael Marquez (Verona, Italy) skipping this camp. Andres Guardado will take the captain's armband in Marquez's absence.
"Everyone starts at zero," Herrera said when announcing his call-ups.
In addition to Torres, there are five other foreign-based players: goalkeeper Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa (Malaga, Spain), Giovani Dos Santos (Villarreal, Spain), Javier Aquino (Rayo Vallecano, Spain), Hector Herrera (Porto, Portugal) and Guardado (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands).
CHILE WITH AN EYE TO 2015
Unlike Mexico, there won't be much experimenting going on with Chile. They will feature many of the same faces from Brazil 2014 in the new World Cup cycle as manager Jorge Sampaoli looks to simply fine tune his roster for next year's Copa America, a tournament they expect to win on home soil.
Like Mexico, Chile are coming off a heartbreaking elimination at in the World Cup Round of 16 (vs. Brazil on penalty kicks) and Saturday will mark their first match back in action. Mexico lost 2-1 to the Netherlands after holding a 1-0 lead in the 88th minute.
The lasting benefit of Chile's World Cup run is that numerous members of the Chilean squad have moved to bigger clubs during the summer: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal, England), Gary Medel (Inter Milan, Italy), Eduardo Vargas (Queen's Park Rangers, England) and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo (Barcelona, Spain), among others.
The latest reports on Friday have Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal, a critical component of Chile's high-pressure style, as doubtful for the match and likely to depart camp after the right knee issues that slowed him down at the World Cup resurfaced in recent days.
Chile wrap up their two-match visit to the US when they take on Haiti at Lockhart Stadium in Florida.
SQUADS:
Mexico
GOALKEEPERS (2): Guillermo Ochoa (Málaga, Spain), Moises Munoz (América)
DEFENDERS (10): Paul Aguilar (América), Hugo Ayala (Tigres), Francisco Javier Rodríguez (Cruz Azul), Oswaldo Alanís (Santos), Luis Gerardo Venegas (Atlas), Hiram Mier (Monterrey), Jorge Torres Nilo (Tigres), Miguel Ponce Briseño (Toluca), Rodolfo Pizarro (Pachuca), Miguel Ángel Herrera (Pachuca)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Andrés Guardado (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Héctor Herrera (FC Porto, Portugal), Javier Aquino (Rayo Vallecano, Spain), Marco Fabián (Cruz Azul), José Juan Vázquez (León), Antonio Ríos (Toluca)
FORWARDS (4): Giovani Dos Santos (Villarreal, Spain), Erick Torres (Chivas USA, USA), Oribe Peralta (América), Javier Orozco (Santos)
Chile
GOALKEEPERS (3): Claudio Bravo, (FC Barcelona, Spain), Johnny Herrera (Universidad de Chile), Christopher Toselli (Universidad Católica)
DEFENDERS (7): Miiko Albornoz (Hannover 96, Germany), Mauricio Isla (QPR, England), Gary Medel (Inter Milan, Italy), Eugenio Mena (Santos, Brazil), Gonzalo Jara (FSV Mainz, Germany), José Rojas (Universidad de Chile), Francisco Silva (Osasuna, Spain)
MIDFIELDERS (11): Charles Aránguiz (Internacional, Brazil), Marcelo Díaz (Basel, Switzerland), Arturo Vidal (Juventus, Italy), Carlos Carmona (Atalanta, Italy), Rodrigo Millar (Atlas Guadalajara, Mexico), José Pedro Fuenzalida (Boca Juniors, Argentina), Francisco Rodríguez (FC Zürich, Switzerland), Sebastián Martínez (Universidad de Chile), Juan Delgado (Colo Colo), Jean Beasejour (Colo Colo), Martín Rodríguez (Huachipato)
FORWARDS (5): Fabián Orellana (Celta, Spain), Eduardo Vargas (QPR, England), Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal, England), Mauricio Pinilla (Genoa, Italy), Esteban Paredes (Colo Colo)
