Despite making it to the World Cup, Mexico find themselves in an oddly similar position to their northern counterparts. A 2-0 loss to Brazil in the round-of-16 stage led to former manager Juan Carlos Osorio’s resignation from the post – with Ricardo Feretti his interim replacement.
Since missing out on the World Cup, the US side have been stuck in limbo – with interim coach Dave Sarachan still managing the side almost a year after the departure of Bruce Arena in the aftermath of a dismally poor qualification campaign to reach Russia. Sarachan’s contract has been extended to the end of the calendar year, which gives the United States organisation more time to find their permanent successor before the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The term friendly is used in the very loosest of contexts when it comes to any meeting between these two historical North American rivals. The United States enter the match this evening without a win in their last three – with friendly losses to Republic of Ireland and Brazil sandwiching a 1-1 draw with France in the pre-World Cup build-up – a tournament they did not participate in.
Good evening and welcome to our LIVE commentary of the international friendly between the United States of America and Mexico from Nissan Field in Nashville, Tennessee!
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Feretti’s start to life in the job could not have been worse, with his admittedly understrength side falling to a 4-1 hammering by Uruguay four days ago. Despite dominating possession stats, Uruguay looked comfortable in attack, with Luis Suarez netting twice. The pressure could really pile onto El Tri tonight if they were to lose to their bitter adversaries – though the atmosphere tonight will certainly not help their cause.