Mexico vs Chile 17/10/18

17 October 2018

After clinching a 3-2 victory over Costa Rica, Mexico are going to host Chile at the Estadio La Corregidora in Queretaro, hoping for another positive outcome that would bring them one step closer to finding the way out of a stressful crisis.

Although El Tri started off the World Cup on the right foot by securing two straight triumphs over Germany and South Korea, they were still unable to go past Brazil in the round of 16, having suffered their seventh consecutive elimination in the first knockout round. A 2-0 defeat to the Selecao seems to have had a negative impact on Ricardo Ferretti’s team that were outclassed by Uruguay and the United States in the first two matches after the end of the final tournament.

On the other hand, after failing to qualify for the World Cup despite being named one of the favorites in the CONMEBOL confederation, La Roja struggled to raise their game in the following period. With two wins and two losses in the past seven friendly challenges, Reinaldo Rueda’s work at the national team has been called into question, especially as Chile failed to achieve a victory in the previous three matches. An ugly 3-0 defeat to Peru last week only confirmed Rueda struggle to motivate the squad that wrapped up two successive Copa America titles.

The prosperous PSV Eindhoven duo Hirving Lozano and Erick Gutierrez are expected to start from the first minute for El Tri after spending the whole game against Costa Rica on the bench. As for the visitors, Bologna’s Erick Pulgar should replace Guillermo Maripan in the heart of the defense, with Kansas City midfielder Felipe Gutierrez supposed to make his first international cap since 2016.