Our prediction for this match:
State Farm Stadium will host Thursday’s friendly between Mexico and Uruguay, the two teams who will take part at the 2022 World Cup finals. El Tri did well to beat Nigeria in their last warm-up game, but La Celeste will pose a much bigger threat for the nominal hosts than their previous rivals. All Raul Jimenez, Andres Guardado, Hector Herrera, and Jesus Corona made the cut for the June friendlies.
The South American outfit, on the other hand, are eyeing their fifth consecutive win, but this game will be anything but a walk in the park for Edinson Cavani and Co. Keep in mind that Atletico Madrid ace Luis Suarez has been omitted. When the two teams met in a friendly four years ago Uruguay crushed Mexico 4-1, but the share of spoils is on the cards this time out.
Highlighted Player (Hector Herrera):
Mexico international Hector Herrera is a 26-year-old midfielder playing for Portugal giants FC Porto. Herrera began his career with Pachuca in 2010 and spent three years at the club before being sold to Porto. During his first season with the Dragons Herrera struggled for playing time, but he went on to cement his place in the starting eleven, becoming one of the most valuable players for the club.
Herrera has since them racked up over 110 performances for the Portugal side, scoring over 20 goals in the process. Full Mexico international since 2012, Hector Herrera represented his country at the 2014 World Cup.
During the summer of 2016 Herrera was heavily linked with a move away from Porto and was reported to have made a personal agreement with Italian side Napoli, but the €25 million asking price proved to be a stumbling block that ended up ruining the deal.
Highlighted Team (Uruguay):
La Celeste are one of the most successful South American nations. Uruguay are frequently the champions of the continent having most recently won the tournament in 2011. They have won the Copa America a record 15 times including the first ever edition of the competition in 1916, while the team has also won FIFA World Cup in two occasions including the inaugural competition in 1930 when they defeated Argentina 4-2 in the final as hosts.
Their second World Cup title came in 1950 when Uruguay and Brazil played a legendary match which recorded a higher attendance than any other football match in the history of the game. Uruguay is the smallest country in the world to have won a World Cup by population, but La Celeste are proud of their football heritage which yielded some of the best footballers in the world over the course of history.
Most notable player of the current selection is Barcelona striker Luis Suarez, who is also the team’s top scorer with 45 goals to his name.