Mexico vs. Brazil: Friendly Is a Must Win for Mexico

In an international friendly match between two soccer powers, Mexico hosts Brazil tonight at 9:30 p.m. EST at Estadio Corona, in Torreon, Mexico. The city of Torreon has around 600,000 people. However, it hasn’t been the best place to raise children lately. 

The city has become known in recent years for drugs and violence. Torreon has been over ran by a wave of violence due to rampant drug use, and it may overshadow the match tonight between these two nations. 

According to SB Nation’s Mexican futbol blog, “FMF State of Mind” spoke to some of the locals about how excited they are to see Brazilian superstar, Neymar, and the rest of the Brazilian National team. 

"I don't have words to describe what it is to see the Brazil national team in my own little town," Torreon resident Fernando Cisneros told the blog.

On Sunday evening, Cisneros accompanied thousands of other local residents to a training session for both teams. It may have just been a training session, but Cisneros could clearly see Torreon's excitement level beginning to peak.

"Today for the first time the city felt like something big is about to happen," he said. "Today it felt like there was something special in the air."

The game tonight between Brazil and Mexico would be like if the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts played a preseason NFL game in the middle of a bad city, where the play of these two teams could put all the violence and drugs in the rear-view mirror for a small window of time. 

The game will have an electric feel to it, as the fans from Torreon have been looking forward to seeing their national team try to upset the powerful Brazil. 

The Mexican team has been playing well recently under the direction of Jose Manuel de la Torre. Mexico will be using some of its younger players in tonight’s friendly, as those young players held the national team to a Gold Cup championship. 

Brazil will counter the young Mexican attack by using its experienced players that have played in a number of matches. Coming into tonight’s game, Brazil is unbeaten in four straight matches, including opponents Argentina, Ghana and Costa Rica. 

Tonight’s match will be a celebration of what good can come out of sports. For 90 minutes, all the bad things that have gone on in this poor city will be silenced, as everyone is bounded together in support of their country.

Final Score: Mexico 2 Brazil 1 

Twitter: @tjmcaloon