Mexico Must Work out Who Is Their No. 1 Goalkeeper Ahead of Chile Quarter-Final

With Monday's 1-1 draw against Venezuela, Juan Carlos Osorio saw his winning run as Mexico coach come to an end.

Now the coach has to make sure El Tri's run at the Copa America Centenario doesn't come to an end, too.

Despite battling back to grab a point in Houston, Texas, Osorio saw his perfect record come to an end. More importantly, though, the result made sure they avoided Argentina in the quarter-finals.

Instead, Chile are the team that stands in Mexico's way. It may seem odd that the reigning champions are considered the lesser of two evils, but it has to be better than facing a team including Lionel Messi, right?

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El Tri and La Roja have recent history—the former triumphed 1-0 in a pre-Copa friendly in the United States.

The two nations now meet again at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Saturday. The venue is the home of the San Francisco 49ers, an NFL team that has a 53-man roster for their games.

Osorio has just 23 players in his Copa squad—and he isn't afraid to use them.

The Colombian has fielded 21 players in the tournament so far. According to Transfermarkt.co.uk, only Candido Ramirez and Carlos Pena have failed to register a solitary minute on the field so far.

Hector Herrera and Hector Moreno are the only ones to have played every minute of the three fixtures in Group C (Andres Guardado might have done so too had he not been sent off against Uruguay).

The rotation policy has even seen all three goalkeepers make one appearance each.

Alfredo Talavera started the 3-1 triumph over Uruguay, only to make way for Guillermo Ochoa for the 2-0 victory against Jamaica.

The clean sheet wasn't enough for Ochoa to keep his place, though. Jose de Jesus Corona was the man between the posts for the group finale against Venezuela.

Quite who Osorio now picks to play in goal against Chile is anyone's guess. No, seriously, you might as well take a guess.

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Corona was the starter for all three of Mexico's games in their disappointing 2015 Copa America campaign, although that was under former manager Miguel Herrera.

The Cruz Azul 'keeper was a surprise starter against Venezuela. Yet while Jesus "Tecatito" Corona was El Tri's hero in that game with an equalising goal in the 80th minute, it was his namesake who produced an acrobatic late save to deny La Vinotinto a winner.

Ochoa was not even selected by Osorio for the friendly against Senegal in February of this year, nor the home-and-away CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers against Canada.

Kept out of the Malaga starting XI by Carlos Kameni, the 30-year-old was out in the cold for both club and country.

An injury to Kameni opened the door with his La Liga employers. Ochoa seized the chance, finishing the Spanish season strongly with Malaga to earn a recall for the Copa America.

Against Jamaica last Friday, Ochoa again made the most of his opportunity. In making a series of crucial stops, he spared a rather sloppy Mexico from conceding.

Yet Osorio may just go back to the man he started out with.

Talavera was the first man up at the Copa, playing in the 3-1 victory over Uruguay. He made one pivotal block to deny Edinson Cavani in the first half, but—like Dracula—looked troubled by crosses.

In giving the player a score of five out of 10 in his ratings for ESPN FC, Cesar Hernandez wrote: "Even before giving up a goal in the 74th minute, the Toluca player looked uneasy and was lost when he left his area for crosses."

Talavera has turned in the least impressive performance of the three options so far, although the Toluca shot-stopper did start the 1-0 friendly triumph over Chile on June 2.

Basically, it's about as clear as mud who plays in goal for Mexico at the weekend.

Trying to work out what Osorio might do next is nigh-on impossible. To borrow a quote from Winston Churchill, the Mexico boss' selection policy "is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma."

But, as Nayib Moran of ESPN FC pointed out, perhaps now is the time for Osorio to go steady with one of his options: "Osorio's decision to switch goalkeepers in all of its group matches, has prevented its defenders to get accustomed to one main, starting goalkeeper. After what happened against Venezuela, it would be wise for Osorio to settle on a goalkeeper and a set defence for the knockout rounds."

While giving all three men a chance to play at the Copa America has allowed him to assess his options, Osorio has also heaped extra pressure on himself.

Whoever starts against Chile, Mexico's goalkeeper will be in the spotlight.

The performance of the starting 'keeper will be under extra scrutiny, adding a little more pressure to what is a huge game, particularly for the head coach.

All statistics used in the article are from Transfermarkt.co.uk, unless otherwise stated.