Uruguay vs Mexico preview

Posted on | July 14, 2007 | No Comments

Invitees Mexico take on 14 time champions Uruguay in the capital city of Caracas in order to decide the bronze medalist of the 42^nd Copa America. 

Mexico have reached the finals of the Copa twice, and have managed the same number of third places. They started off their campaign with a shock 2-0 win over Brazil in which Castillo and Morales scored. That was followed by a 2-1 victory over Ecuador, and a goalless draw against Chile. That saw El Tri, runners up in the Gold Cup top Group B ahead of initial favourites Brazil. In the quarterfinals, they demolished Paraguay 6-0. They fell to Argentina rather tamely in the semifinals, and will now play Uruguay in a third place playoff. Coach Hugo Sanchez will be pretty happy with the way his team has played so far, and Uruguay will pose an interesting challenge. Mexico’s most impressive player is this tournament has been Olympiakos forward Nery Castillo,  a person who could very easily have been on the opposite end of the pitch donning Uruguay colours. Instead Castillo chose Mexico, and his four goals are largely the reason why Mexico have progressed so far in this tournament. No Mexico player is banned for this game, and most of the well known players, including Torrardo, Marquez, Guardado and Cacho should start. Oswaldo Sanchez, who has been in goal for both the quarterfinals and semis, should keep his spot unless Sanchez wants to give Ochoa another chance.

Uruguay have been anything but consistent in the tournament. They started off inauspiciously, losing 3-0 to Peru. They managed a draw and a win in their next two games, and thus managed to reach the quarterfinals by scoring just one goal. Fans were treated to the real Uruguay in the quarterfinals and the semis. They beat Venezuela 4-1 in the quarters, and dominated Brazil for large part of their semifinal before going out on penalties. On another day, they might easily have been in the final instead of playing in the third place playoff. Tabarez is likely to stick with the Recoba Forlan pairing upfront. Forlan has been Uruguay’s top goal scorer in this year’s Copa,  with three out of the seven goals that the Albicelestes have scored credited to him. This is Uruguay’s third consecutive third place playoff. In 2001, they lost on penalties to Honduras, and three years ago, they beat Colombia. Curiously enough, they lost on penalties in the semifinals to Brazil three years before, and Colombia lost to Argentina 3-0, just as Mexico did this time  The Uruguyuan midfield, consisting of Cristian Rodriguez, Pablo Garcia and Diego Perez will face stiff opposition from the Mexican medios. Nery Castillo will be the man to contain for defenders Scotti and Lugano.

Uruguay will walk into this game favourites, especially after the way they played against Brazil. However they can be inconsistent, and that can to work to the advantage of Hugo Sanchez’s boys. Uruguay to win 2-1- Forlan, Recoba and Castillo/ Cacho on the scoresheet.

Related posts:

1. Uruguay vs Mexico preview- Copa America
2. Mexico vs Paraguay preview
3. Group A – Mexico vs Uruguay preview
4. Argentina vs Mexico preview
5. Mexico vs Ecuador preview

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