Mexico vs. El Salvador: Why Mexicans Have the Edge After Guyana Blowout

Mexico has the advantage over its opponent, El Salvador, in Tuesday's World Cup qualifying match for obvious reasons—they're coming off a 5-0 dismantling of Guyana.

Granted, it was a close match until basically 15 minutes remaining, but Mexico now has the confidence of knowing they can pile it on during the clutch moments of a game.

It doesn't matter that El Tri waited 80 minutes to really kick it in and blow out Guyana; the fact is that you can't deny how solid the Mexican squad looked on Oct. 12.

Andres Guardado got the scoring going for Mexico at the 77th minute, which was followed up by a second goal two minutes later from teammate Oribe Peralta.

When asked about the late scoring efforts, Guardado told the Houston Chronicle's Jesus Ortiz,

"

Sadly, the first goal came very late. I think if it would have come in during the first scoring chances we had in the first half it could have been a much bigger result. But we were patient and the five goals came in one big blow.

"

Following the two Mexico goals, it was over for Guyana, who saw Charles Pollard score an own goal, extending Mexico's lead to 3-0 with little time left to play.

One thing that we can take from the Guyana game for the Mexicans is that Jose Manuel "Chepo" De La Torre tinkered with his lineup and respected his opponent a bit too much. It looks like Chepo wants the younger players to earn their spots and that's been evident through the Mexicans' run in qualifying.

Having dominated the Group B standings so far, Mexico should be in for an easy victory on Tuesday. They already defeated El Salvador 2-1 back in June and have amassed 13 goals while surrendering just two during this run.

The Mexican team has the physical and mental edge entering this match, and after El Salvador lost its last game against Costa Rica, Mexico should be a heavy favorite on Tuesday.

Follow me on Twitter: Follow @Pete_Schauer