The Uruguayan national team, in search of consistency, and Mexico, which is trying to grow, will meet this Saturday in a preparation match for the 2026 World Cup in Torreón, Coahuila, north of the Mexican capital.
After qualifying for the World Cup in the Conmebol qualifiers, where they finished fourth, Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa’s team needs to maintain its winning streak and improve the performance it showed in the last FIFA matchday, in which it defeated the Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan.
Bielsa calls for new faces
As he did in these duels, ‘El Loco’ has once again included a call-up to observe some elements that are not so frequent in the World Cup qualifiers.
In the absence of Sergio Rochet, Franco Israel, Federico Valverde, Nicolás de la Cruz and Darwin Núñez due to injury, Bielsa opted for a handful of players who play in Mexican soccer, some of them intermittent in their call-ups with Uruguay.
Sebastián Cáceres, Brian Rodríguez and Rodrigo Aguirre, players from América, as well as Juan Manuel Sanabria, from Atlético de San Luis.
Santiago Mele from Monterrey and the surprise call of Santiago Homenchenko, from Querétaro.
He is a 22-year-old defender who is attending the senior national team for the first time.
Bielsa has confidence in Homenchenko, whom he coached at the 2024 pre-Olympics.
The player also participated with the U-20 team that won the World Cup of the specialty in 2023.
Aguirre bets on new blood
With Mexico, coach Javier Aguirre has also had to use young players for this match against Uruguay due to the absence of players such as César Huerta, Alexis Vega and Santiago Giménez.
Armando González, a 22-year-old player from Guadalajara, is one of the new additions to the squad.
He achieved it thanks to his outstanding performance, which earned him the title of top scorer in the Apertura with 12 goals, tied with Portugal’s Paulinho and Italy’s Joao Pedro Giraldino.
Jorge Ruvalcaba, a 24-year-old attacker for Pumas, and Seattle Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas, 20, are other new additions to a squad that has been widely criticized for Aguirre’s reluctance to give new faces a chance.
Mexico is looking to grow and freshen up its attack, while Uruguay seeks to find consistency and elements to shore up Bielsa’s system in a friendly match that promises intensity, but not many goals.
Possible alignments
Mexico: Ángel Malagón; Kevin Álvarez, César Montes, Joahn Vásquez, Jesús Gallardo; Marcel Ruiz, Obed Vargas, Erick Sánchez, Diego Lainez; Germán Berterame and Raúl Jiménez.
Coach: Javier Aguirre.
Uruguay: Santiago Mele; Nahitan Nández, Ronald Araújo, Sebastián Cáceres, Mathias Olivera; Emiliano Martínez, Manuel Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur; Brian Rodríguez, Maximiliano Araújo, Federico Viñas.
Coach: Marcelo Bielsa.
Referee: To be designated.
Stadium: Corona, in Torreón, Coahuila.
Time: 20:00 (02:00 GMT).
With information from EFE
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