World Football: What to Expect from the Mexico-U.S. Matchup

Philadelphia, PA will host a match with minimum levels of friendliness on Wednesday. The Mexican side might still be enjoying that 4-2 comeback win which meant the Gold Cup, but they will be facing a new team when it comes to mentality and tactics.

But what should we expect from these two squads? This friendly will certainly prove to be very different than the Pasadena, CA final. There is less at stake sure, but both sides will have to approach the match from several angles in order to find a winning formula.

Lets start with the American side. The German manager's first task must be to inspire his team and give a decent first impression to the soccer federation and the fans. Playing against Mexico is a double—edged sword and so a win is vital to set the tone to the rest of his era. Lose or tie and the fans will start claiming he can't handle the important games, not beating Mexico is enough to get him sacked. Unluckily for Jurgen Klinsmann, his layout must be offensive. Stand back against Mexico and complaints will cascade on his desk the next day. 

However, the United States Men's National Team (USMNT) will have many benefits on their side. The Lincoln Financial Field should host a mostly American fan base and they will be patient with Klinsmann unless something really abominable happens. Klinsmann wasn't in Pasadena and so he can inject new energy and reinstate a winning mentality. Klinsmann can ignore his most inexperienced players, for no one should demand him to use them on his first game. The U.S. is the great question mark in this game but the stage is set for them to do something positive.

Now onto the Mexican side. El Tri comes after a disappointing Copa America in Argentina in which they lost all three of their games, but that was a patched up squad and for this game De La Torre will make use of his best players.

With one huge, massive and catastrophic exception, Javier Hernandez.

The striker position had been the weakest position for a while until the emergence of Hernandez. De La Torre will also miss Aldo De Nigris who seemed like the best substitute for the Manchester United player. Mexico will now have to rely on either Oribe Peralta or Jesus Arellano to fill that gap and what a gap it is. 

But this does not mean everything is over for Mexico.

The midfield is extremely well qualified with the likes of Giovani Dos Santos, Pablo Barrera and Andres Guardado who must push the American defense back into its own box.

This game will also provide a good moment to start consolidating some young players into the first team. All eyes should be kept on Torres Nilo and Jesus Zavala who might be the replacements of Carlos Salcido and Gerardo Torrado.

Both sides present advantages and disadvantages and apparently this will be a duel between managers who will have to sort out their own obstacles.

Prediction for the match, Mexico 1-0.