friendly preview: mexico - colombia
 
who: mexico v. colombia
when: 10 pm et, wednesday, august 22, 2007
where: dick’s sporting goods park, commerce city, colorado, usa
 
he latest stop on mexico’s u.s. tour takes el tricolor to the denver suburbs and the “dick” for a friendly with colombia. both teams see the match as a good test for their young players and have left most of their respective europe-based heavies off the roster.

these two squads have met 22 times before with el tri winning 11 and losing four. they’ve drawn eight times. last time they met was in july 2005, in the quarterfinals of the gold cup in houston, texas. colombia, a guest team at the concacaf tournament, eliminated mexico from the region’s tournament.

mexico: building for the future

after losing the gold cup final to the u.s. and receiving heaps of criticism, hugo sanchez’s side surprised the world with a 3rd-place finish at the copa america, including a 2-0 win over brazil. but that may have been the last hurrah for a strong generation of mexican futbol.

now mexico is on the verge of seeing the emergence of a new “golden generation” and this match is the beginning. the u-17s won the 2005 u-17 world cup and the u-20s had a good showing this summer at the u-20 world cup. sanchez’s roster for the colombia match includes five players from that 2005 u-17 team, nine players from the u-20 team, and two from last month’s pan american games team.

much of the young strength comes in the back, where defenders julio cesar dominguez and adrian aldrete could feature alongside chivas leftback johnny magallon, one of only four players over the age of 21.

the attack will run through international veterans gerardo torrado and omar bravo, although other options include 22-year-old carlos rodriguez, who has impressed this season for mexico champions pachuca, and 23-year-old santiago fernandez, who once disappeared from the soccer world following the 2005 u-20 world cup before resurrecting his career at club america in 2006.

sanchez admits that he is using this match to help prepare the national program for concacaf olympic qualifying, which will take place early next year. “i was advised by the coaches of the under-20 and the pan american teams,” sanchez has told the press. “they informed me and helped me put together this list. all our planning is focused on winning a place in the 2008 beijing olympics.”

colombia: looking for hope

coach jorge luis pinto has called in only four players who play outside of colombia. only one was called in from europe, defender aquivaldo mosquera, who moved from mexican club pachuca to sevilla this month. it is all part of a push by pinto to cultivate a new generation of homegrown players.

los cafeteros have been in the doldrums for almost a decade now. they failed to get out of the group stages in this summer’s copa america and have not qualified for the world cup since 1998, when the carlos valderrama era finished its run.

the roster includes 18-year-old keeper david ospina of colombian champions nacional, though veteran augustin julio will most likely get the start. in the absence of udinese defender cristian zapata, the backline will feature mosquera and 22-year-old nacional defender juan camilo zuniga.

the attack goes through jaime castrillon, the 24-year-old independiente medillin midfielder who scored two of colombia’s three goals at copa america and could be a transfer target for europe. two flashy kids should spearhead the frontline: river plate striker falcao garcia and necaxa marksman hugo rodallega. they’re young, crafty, and fearless going forward, and garcia, just 21, already has an impressive 10 goals from 30 appearances with river.

player to watch

mexico: edgar castillo. the son of mexican immigrants to the u.s., castillo was born and raised in las cruces new mexico, and joined mexican primera club santos laguna after high school. the talented 21-year-old left-sided player could’ve suited up for either mexico or the u.s. he was snapped up first by the mexican olympic pool and now looks set to debut for the full national team.

colombia: aquivaldo mosquera. after winning the 2006 clausura and the copa sudamericana with pachuca, the 26-year-old centerback made the leap this month spanish side sevilla for $11 million. he signed a five-year deal and is expected to provide cover for injured javi navarro.

prediction

a friendly like this one--when both teams are testing out new players and the match takes place on neutral ground--is not about the result. furthermore, both sides have drawn players from leagues that have only just kicked off, so fitness may also be a worry. but at this point, mexico looks the better side, with young players looking to impress in advance of next year’s olympic qualifying tournament.
mexico 2-0 colombia