Mexico vs Peru: Who to watch? Stars and best players on the Mexico national team
After the friendly against Peru, Gerardo Martino’s side take on Colombia in Santa Clara on Tuesday.
Mexico continue their preparations for the 2022 World Cup with a friendly against Peru in California on Saturday night.
Saturday will be Mexico and Peru’s first meeting since June 2015, when Juan Carlos Valenzuela’s late equaliser cancelled out Jefferson Farfán’s opener to earn Mexico a draw in Lima.
After the test against Peru, Gerardo Martino’s side take on Colombia in Santa Clara on Tuesday. The Peruvians are also on a mini-US tour. Next up for Juan Máximo Reynoso’s team is a clash with El Salvador in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.
Raúl Jiménez injured
Mexico striker Raúl Jiménez is the top scorer in Martino’s squad but the Wolves player is currently injured and will miss the matches against Peru and Colombia.
Martino has confirmed that Jiménez will not play during the September international break as he continues his recovery from a groin injury.
“I would like to think that he’s not at serious risk of missing the World Cup and we are hopeful he can recover in time and even play a game with Wolves. I have a lot of expectations and when I visited him 20 or 30 days ago, I never thought we would be in this situation,” Martino said.
“I didn’t think his injury was going to be this serious and I don’t think it is that serious, but it needs to be monitored closely. So yeah, with the World Cup right around the corner, I have to be monitoring his recovery and we are working alongside Wolves so he can recover as soon as possible.”
Experienced Mexico midfield
Mexico’s midfield is full of experience, with Héctor Herrera and Andrés Guardado in the engine room. Both players have experience playing in Spain, with Atlético Madrid and Real Betis respectively, and could be playing in their last World Cups this winter.
Napoli’s Hirving Lozano is a threat for Martino’s men going forward, scoring 15 goals in 58 caps for his country. América forward Henry Martín (6 goals in 23 games), Guadalajara’s Alexis Vega (3 in 20), Rogelio Funes Mori (5 in 15) and Feyenoord forward Santiago Giménez (2 in 7) are other potential options in attack for El Tri.
Diego Lainez is an exciting young player. The 22-year-old has already been capped 20 times by his country. He is currently on loan at SC Braga from Betis and could cause the Peru backline some problems should he feature.