Fresh from its triumph in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final, the Mexican national team has announced its roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against the United States on Aug. 12 in Mexico City.
The group contains several of the team's top Gold Cup performers, as well as most of Mexico's premier European-based players. Here is the group:
GOALKEEPERS: Guillermo Ochoa (América), José de Jesús Corona (Cruz Azul).
DEFENDERS: EfraÃn Juárez (Pumas), José Antonio Castro (Tigres), Ricardo Osorio (Stuttgart, Alemania), Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven, Holanda), Oscar Rojas (América), Rafael Márquez (Barcelona, España), Jonny Magallón (Chivas), Aarón Galindo (Chivas).
MIDFIELDERS: Israel Castro (Pumas), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire), Andrés Guardado (Deportivo La Coruña, España), Alberto Medina (Chivas).
FORWARDS: Miguel Sabah (Morelia), Giovani Dos Santos (Ipswich, Inglaterra), Carlos Vela (Arsenal, Inglaterra), Guillermo Franco (sin equipo), Nery Castillo (Shakhtar Donetsk).
So just how seriously is Mexico taking this match?
Mexican national team manager Javier Aguirre is going so far as to bring in this entire group a week before the Aug. 12 match, including the European-based players.
The Mexican squad includes Chicago Fire star Cuauhtemoc Blanco, but not long-time Mexican national team leader Pavel Pardo, who has never been a favorite of Aguirre's.
So when will we see the U.S. team's roster? Don't hold your breath. U.S. head coach Bob Bradley always waits until the last possible moment to release his rosters so we may not know the group the U.S. team is sending until the Friday before or even as late as the Sunday before the match.
What do you think of this Mexico group? Are you worried for the United States, or do you like the U.S. team's chances on August 12th? Who would you like to see Bradley call up for the qualifier?
Share your thoughts below.
simulated in fifa 09 with same projected mex lineup vs us confed line up in Azteca mid of day.
mexico won 3-1…..just a video game though what does a video game know.
Mexico 3-0. Aguirre will prove to be the superior strategist to Bradley
“Did “ThaDeuce” really say “Lewis” would get called into camp earlier in the blog?
Dummy.
Posted by: Jdavids | July 30, 2009 at 04:09 AM”
What is wrong with Lewis? Would you rather have Beasley as the on the bench left winger? I’d put Lewis even in front of Robbie Rogers at this point.
The US was “lucky” to hang three on the African champs, 2 on the European champs, and take a 2-0 lead on the South American champs in ONE WEEK STRETCH?
?
??
Lucky to get through to the knockout stage? Perhaps.
Lucky to beat those teams? Not hardly. And we didn’t do it to fourth and fifth choice players, either. These were the best these CHAMPIONS had to offer.
While we were doing that, Mexico was busy losing to El Salvador, and squeaking past Trinidad & Tobago.
But you guys are right. El Salvador, Spain, Brazil, T&T.
It’s all the same, right?
You guys stick with it, though, and you’ll pass Honduras in no time.
Davies, or a comparably skilled player, is needed in the starting lineup. His speed up top and his ability to apply pressure on offense and defense is a difference maker.
The US can’t play that old school lob and hope crap and expect to get a positive result.
Ching is not Brian McBride, and even if he was that wouldn’t be enough. I like Ching for his work ethic, but think he’s a tread water type of player. There isn’t a single forward still playing in the MLS that can help the USMNT move beyond mediocrity.
Regardless of the lineup, the US needs to keep its composure, and play a possession style game, for the first 15 minutes or so. We can’t sit back and absorb pressure from the get go. You can bet that Aguirre will put out a semi-smurf team of forwards out there to attack our flanks. We have to remain calm and keep some possession, or else we’ll be down 2-0 before you know it.
August 12th 2009
3 USA 2 MEX
The Mexican fans in the Azteca are so upset that all suffer hysterical blindness and can’t find their way out of the stadium for 3 days.
Michoacano – apparently you just glossed over the whole team from the Gold Cup and did not notice some of the strong play from some of the individual players who were not responsible for the breakdowns. Chad Marshall proved his worth and will hopefully continue to get call-ups and perhaps get starts with the A-team. If the team can work him into set pieces he can be very dangerous.
And despite your team tearing into our team in that last game, in which something just happened to our team (probably after they saw the ref give you guys the penalty on that bulls**t call, and then let you score the second goal right after your player strong-armed one of our players to take the ball) , Troy Perkins has proven himself to be a much better backup candidate, IMHO, than Brad Guzan. I have seen Guzan play against my MLS side, and make some hideous mistakes. I saw us score a goal where the ball went right through his hands. He is a liability for the USMNT. Perkins is the future backup candidate for Timmeh. Nuff said.
Did “ThaDeuce” really say “Lewis” would get called into camp earlier in the blog?
Dummy.
2 points
1) I’m not expecting us to win at Azteca. It’s such a tough environment that Mexico simply never loses their, even to the likes of Brazil
2) I think our team is head and shoulders better than theirs. This Mexican team they just put out has Nine guys that played against us in the GC final… Those guys had a very difficult time for 55 minutes – until we gave up – playing against a bunch of US national team wannabes to be blunt.
Again, I’m not expecting us to win this game; however, i am expecting us to be the better team on the night
Wake Up People!
Just a thought,
it seems like we were all way more pumped for the Columbus game than the Azteca game…maybe we hadn’t played any big games recently back then and were more starved.
vuelve para sangre Mexicana” translates to “returns for Mexican blood”
just a throwback to 6 months ago….
Please bring back Matthew Brock’s El Chupacabra, or at least post it on the forum in the run up to the Azteca (I’m not demanding you print it and bring it to the game, I just want to see it in the forum again).
VOODOO
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2009/02/usa-vs-mexico-countdown-not-voodoo-again.html
VILLAIN
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2009/02/usa-vs-mexico-countdown-who-is-el-tris-biggest-villain.html
BANNER CONTEST
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2009/02/s–s.html
BANNER WINNER
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2009/02/usa-vs-mexico-countdown-sbi-banner-contest-completed.html
(personally, I think the new biggest villain is whichever Mexican player dove in the box to earn the penalty, I also think the El Chupacabra Banner is much more fitting this time around)… Ives?
El Chupacabra (by Matthew Brock)
El Chupacabra is in the all-star game. Beware green white and red.
Mike W, from what I’ve read, he will announce the roster 3 days before, with players flying in after that. I hope that good enough for our boys to play their hearts out!
THE YANKS ARE COMING
Does anyone know when/where Bradley is having his training camp for the game? He’s going to have a difficult choice with clubs still in pre-season training.
Rafael Marquez is good for a red card, for starters. The rest of the Mexican team is average, at best. So, they beat part of an MLS all star, after the Americans fell apart following a questionable penalty call and an obvious offsides that was not called.
The Americans are coming with the Confederations Cup team, who certainly is just as inspired, if not more so, than the Mexican team that just beat the US C- team, in New York.
Now, I know they came off a 5-0 win and all, but it’s pretty daring of Aguirre to commit this far in advance to 12 GC players. It’s an overwhelming vote of confidence compared to the normal “A” squad. Not that he did not also call up several regulars that did not play in the GC, but still.
But really, this is just gamesmanship. Committing to a roster this early is just a way of Aguirre telling his players, “I believe in you, you’re not going to lose, no matter who you play.” But it’s hard to think that there won’t be at least 2 scratches from this line-up, considering Marquez’s uncertain health in preparation for Barcelona and the regular give and take of injuries on the practice field.
Fact is, Aguirre has played his hand early. One might think it foolish, but Aguirre is right in one respect, they are daring us to beat them. So the USMNT better be ready to stand up and take the challenge head-on because while it may have been 10 years since MEX won on US soil prior to the last game, the US has never had the pleasure.
The Authority-
It’s rain season in Mexico. Somedays Mexico City is as clear as a bell, with absolutely NO SMOG! You can see EVERYTHING sorrounding the City including the imposing mountains, and sometimes the volcanoes!
Also, with all do respect, you’re playing at the only stadium that has hosted two WC finals! Never heard either the winners or the losers complain about the altitude! And what about Marquez, Osorio, Salcido, Blanco, Guardado, Dos Santos, Vela,Castillo and all the players that don’t play with teams based in Mexico City? Aren’t they facing the same problem as the USMT!
I wonder what division “sin equipo” is in? Perhaps it’s a “strip club team” as opposed to a “pub team.” ;D
DOS A CERO
EL CHUPACABRE
LANDON DONOVAN WILL EAT YOUR MOTHER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_OqZyDppUE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fvideosearch%
@Japan
THIRTEEN:
1.. Francisco Guillermo Ochoa CHECK

2. José de Jesús Corona 
CHECK
3. EfraÃn Juárez 
CHECK
4. José Antonio Castro CHECK
5. José Jonny Magallón CHECK
6. Oscar Rojas 
CHECK
7. Gerardo Torrado CHECK

8. Israel Castro
 CHECK
9. Alberto Medina
 CHECK
10. Giovani Dos Santos
 CHECK
11. Carlos Vela
 CHECK (ARSENAL STRIKER)
12. Miguel Sabah CHECK

13. Guillermo Franco CHECK
With many having playing time.
@: toreadore ,
I’ll say it loud and clear once tonight:
Ahem,
ADU IS NOT OUR, USMNT, BEST PLAYER.
Thank you,
; )
“I’m glad the people who hate Ching identify themselves so easily. It lets me quickly figure out which comments I should ignore.”
Posted by: Joamiq | July 29, 2009 at 07:44 PM
BRAVO JOAMIQ, BRAVO!!!
@Paramo,
1. tell me once when Ives, myself, or any other “serious soccer fan” dismissed the confederations cup before it happened. From what I read and said on this board, it was all we looked forward to for 6 months as a real test for the USMNT a year before the world cup. I like what I saw.
2. This isn’t the same team that struggled against El Salvador. After a major tournament like the confederations cup where we found our role and desire and worked out the kinks (Kljestan, Beasley) this is a completely different team. Chemistry is 25% better too.
3. You are a Mexico fan, easy to tell by your lack of USMNT knowledge though you try to pass it off.
Caasi,
“ob Bradley will come out with a 4-4-2”
That is all I can accurately quote from you. The rest is crap. I believe that Dempsey, Donovan, Altidore, Davies, Bradley, & Ching are going to be the ones exposing a weak Mexican defense and working the flanks, opening up the middle, and scoring goals. Every time Dos Santos and Vella get the ball they will be smothered by our back line and Bradley/Clark. THey will not have the time to create, they will play scared and cheap as that is their only option. They will probably try diving in the box, like they got their first goal last game, to even things up.
I’m old enough to have watched many, many US v. Mexico games in Mexico City. No one on these boards have brought up the single biggest factors in this game:
ALTITUDE
SMOG
Every time we play there, USA players after the game say they can’t breathe after 10 minutes and can’t catch their breath the rest of the game.
jermaine jones is A) not available until october, read the aarticle from earlier today and B) is recovering from a fracture in his leg/ankle, so even if he were eligible (which he isnt) he would not be available.
I think you mean Joe of the Saints on account of his surname being Portuguese.
I’m just actually surprised a lot of US fans are overlooking Mexico. A bunch of you guys sound like fans of Euro and South American teams when the US beats them and we get “it was just our bench players big deal.” Ironically, US fans are now doing the exact same thing, except against a team that has only recently fallen on hard times. Mexico had a great Gold Cup, no other way to say it. They are a dangerous team right now and the fact that Aguirre was able to turn his B team into the base of the A team speaks volumes of his coaching abilities.
Can someone clear up the Jones situation, Fist I hear he is available after Aug 2 and now i hear Oct 2? Which one is it. there is a lot of news on both dates.
I think it is going to be a great and tough game. In the last few years, when we beat Mexico, we did it b/c while our players aren’t necessarily more individually talented, our current group has several very good players as well and U.S. usually plays a far more disciplined game than Mexico.
In the final last Sunday, the talent gap was wider (we do not have players of the caliber of Dos Santos and Vela) and Mexico played a disciplined game from start to finish. I think the game on the 12th is going to be close. The longer we do not give up the 1st goal, the better our chances to grind out a narrow victory.
I wonder if McBride could be coaxed out of retirement for this one. I’d still take his aerial game over Brian Ching’s. Ching is not really an offensive threat on the international level beyond mediocre CONCAAF teams.
Soccer is not math.
if a > b and b > c then a > c does not apply.
History does not really matters.
JCC-
You mean like when Mexico beat Brazil in both Confederations Cups they’ve participated in, including the one in 1999, where in the final against them, Mexico actually WON IT!
Wes, Jones is recovering from an injury. He will not be playing. We will not see him before October.
Wes, Borgetti and Dos Santos are completely different type of players. Goochi is more suited to defend Borgetti type rather than quick Dos Santos type.
Can someone tell me how many of the Mexican players that also played in the Gold Cup are going to actually play on the 12th?
I believe Jermaine Jones is available for the U.S. so he could be an impact player to bring in as a sub. Dos Santos is going to get shutdown by Gooch. just like Borgetti got shutdown in 2005
How the hell is Mexico confident? It takes 20 seconds of simple logic to determine that:
1. They beat the non-USA A team 5-0.
2. The last time the USA A team played together they beat the No. 1 team in the world and nearly beat Brazil.
3. The USA A team is the one coming to Azteca.
Posted by: Dave | July 29, 2009 at 06:28 PM
Big deal. Nearly beating Brazil isn’t actually beating Brazil. Which Mexico has done several times. I think both teams are riding a good momentum right now. But I find it hard to imagine the US will come in just a couple of days before the game and become acclimated to the altitude and smog and come out guns blazing. That would just be stupid. We’d be gassed by half-time.
You knuckleheads talk about Ching like he’s not any good. Excuse me, but besides McBride, what other big forward does the US have. Come on Jozy can’t hold a defender off like Ching, Johnson can’t finish like Ching in the air. Davis had a good tournament in SA but hey that is history. Ching is the big man we need to win balls in the air, play short passes back to our speedy midfielders through, i.e. Donovan.
Come people Ching is starting, get over it. I’ll take side bets with the clowns that think other wise.
What has captured me, is how a player like Dos Santos which can be compared to our Freddy Adunothing is able to get plenty of minutes for a guy that doesn’t play defense. I think right here is where Bradley needs some more coaching experience. Aguirre finds a system that works for his best players to be apart of and i don’t think Bradley has reached that capacity. Doesn’t mean he isn’t a good coach, he just doesn’t try that approach. I think an American coach that would do that could be Dominic Kinnear. Sigi maybe!! Rongen not even if i say all my Hail Mary’s tonight!!!
If Bob Bradley is sane, he will start the same side he started against Spain. Spector and Boca won’t let Vela and Dos Santos run free the way Heaps and Pearce did and Mexico always has trouble scoring against the U.S. The may be the first time where the U.S. will be more talented as a whole than Mexico and although Mexico needs the win more, the U.S. has a huge opportunity to check another major problem off its list this year. My prediction: U.S. 3 – Mexico 1. Donovan with a big game.
I’m glad the people who hate Ching identify themselves so easily. It lets me quickly figure out which comments I should ignore.
How a VERY lucky performance at the Confederations Cup by the USMT, which by the way, all the hardcore US fans where dismissing months before as an “unimportant” tourney, became the reason why U.S. fans think this is a team transformed! Maybe so, but so is Mexico!
Because if memory serves me well, isn’t this the same US team that struggled mightily to get a tie against El Salvador in qualifiers? I’ll tell you something, if the US loses against Mexico, I wouldn’t be so sure that the rest of the road is going to be as peachy as you think! I actually think the tables may turn!
This game is JUST AS IMPORTANT for the US as it is for Mexico!!!
Yea Ching is a waste of minutes. He’s not and will never be ready for the real deal.
Excellent all around Toreadore- I’ve been trying to explain the passionate fan thing, in many ways, many times, to NO AVAIL!
This game could either be explosive and open, which I think is Mexico’s best bet, or closed and opportunistic, which is probably what the US will try for. I think the first half is crucial!!!
And it’s AMAZING to read how so many here want the ELIMINATION of Mexico from the WC! One thing is me wanting my team to win the Gold Cup, the other is having a perverse desire to end the opposing teams chances for WC qualifying!
First off, Mexico WILL BE GOING TO THE WORLD CUP…PERIOD!
Secondly, if for some unforseen catastrophe it does not, it will not be the US who will decide, it will probably be Argentina!
I thought clubs weren’t required to release a player until 5 days before a qualifying match. If this is the case, with travel from Europe etc., a Aguirre does not have any significant advantage over US. Will Bradley not call his European-based players in 5 days before? If he doesn’t, it seems odd to me.
they seem pretty thin at midfield. Only five players listed?
BK
I don’t know about the rest of your points…but Ching does not walk around a lot…nor does he neglect to apply pressure to defenders….if you think he does…then what do you think of Jozy Altidore’s effort level on defense? Comatose? Dead?
Anyways…
MEXICO SUCKS.