Mexico failed to find success in Chile during the Copa America and Miguel Herrera is under a lot of fire for it. Now they face an opponent that could complicate things more and bring down their morale ahead of the tournament they are bringing their "A" team. Costa Rica is far from being that 2014 World Cup team but still a team that will do whatever it takes to take El Tri down at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida.
The Aztec team stated from the very beginning that they would give the Gold Cup preferential treatment over the summer as it gives them a chance to qualify for the Confederations Cup in 2017. In the Copa America, they are only treated as guests.
Javier Hernandez, Carlos Vela and Andres Guardado are among the highlighted names for this team that has the task to recover some of the lost trust from fans towards El Piojo and his project as the manager for the national team. If he fails in the Gold Cup, his chances to continue as the coach are really slim.
El Tri has not won any of their last five games, where their best performance ended in a tie with Chile 3-3. They have three draws and two defeats against Ecuador and Brazil included in that record. The recent results are nowhere near what Mexico showed in the 2014 World Cup where they almost made it to the quarter-finals.
Ever since the tournament in Brazil, the performances by Mexico have been below average and resembled the problems they had when they were almost knocked out of the World Cup Qualifiers. Costa
Costa Rica fired their coach of the time, Jorge Luis Pinto, shortly after the World Cup ended, despite their success in the competition. Now, a former player, Paulo Wanchope is the man that is working on keeping Costa Rica among the best in the world. Their current FIFA Ranking (14) makes them the best in CONCACAF.
If Javier Hernandez wants to score, he will need to get past his good friend in Real Madrid, Keylor Navas. The goalkeeper used his great performance in the World Cup to go from Levante to the 10-time Europan Champions.
Los Ticos know the pressure is mostly on Mexico, but they want to make sure they are well prepared in every aspect and winning against Mexico could be a huge boost ahead of the Gold Cup, where they are among the favorites for the first time in a very long time. It is a tournament they have never won in the past.
Most predictions claim this game could end in a tie based on the poor performances by both teams in recent games. There are others that claim Mexico hold a slight advantage based on the men called up for this game. Costa Rica is struggling to understand what Wanchope wants from them, but Mexico is always a good motivation for the team.
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