Mexico v. Cameroon

Mexico v. Cameroon

Mexico

(predicted) lineup (5-3-2, 3 Midfielders, 1 Creating):
Ochoa ; Layun, Reyes, Rafa Marquez (Yes, the old as fuck one), Salcido, Guardado ; Dos Santos, Pena, Herrera ; Chicharito, Peralta

Cameroon

(predicted) lineup (4-4-2, flat midfield, 2 central/holding midfielders)
Itandje ; Assou-Ekotto, Djeugoue, Nkoulou, Enoh ; Mbia, Song, Moukandjo, Matip ; Eto'o, Webo.

Players to Watch: 

Mexico: 

Andres Guardado, starting out his career as a forward playing on the left, has seen his career lead him to adopting a new role of a wingback defensive player. Once starting in Valencia as a promising and exciting left winged midfielder, Guardado went through a loss of pace and therby was tasked to plying his trade as a defensive minded winger, later becoming a hybrid midfielder-flanked defender. What does this mean for Mexico? Guardado has now been tasked to provide support to the attack on the left side, yet as well restrain himself from being caught too forward in the case of a Cameroon counter occurring and catching the Mexicans out of position. Guardado has a deadly accurate left foot and his crosses into the box are surely bound to reach Chicharito waiting around the six. Guardado will be forming part of a (predicted) 5 man Mexican defensive in which absorption of Cameroonian attacks will be expected.

Giovani Dos Santos will be the outlet to almost all of Mexico's attempts at goal. The linkup play between a deep, defensive line to the front duo of Chicharito/Jimenez or Peralta will need Dos Santos to be actively looking for passes to receive and distribute almost instantaneously. Dos Santos is exemplary of one of those players that for whatever club team he performs for, the performances do not match the unheralded effort that is put in for the national team (i.e. Podolski, Altidore). With this in mind, Dos Santos holds the key for Mexico to change gears from absorption of defense to a fluid and direct attack on the Cameroonian goal. 


Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez  is tasked to being the main attacking threat for a nation that does not even view him as having given his all for the National Team. The issue for Hernandez's stuttering goal record for El Tri is that Chicharito is not one to drop into midfield, receive a ball, and progress forward, creating for either himself or his teammates (a la Rooney or Van Persie, his Manchester United teammates). Rather, Chicharito is a player that relies on service to arrive into the box, and from which he can create and or find spaces to tuck one into the net. Lack of service means lack of Chicharito producing for El Tri, and this factor may be what undoes his chances of starting for Mexico come Friday in Natal. 

Cameroon: 

Alex Song is coming off a lackluster year for Barcelona. He was brought in to cover in the Central Defensive Midfield role and from my recollection, Barcelona was able to win on most occasions with which Song was on the pitch. The partnership with Stephane Mbia in the middle of the park will allow Song to make marauding runs forward and thereby allow him to distribute from higher up the pitch. With that, the long balls played forward by Song, should they reach a running Eto'o or Webo, would see either one of these hulking forwards come face to face with Ochoa easy. 

Samuel Eto'o has never truly experienced success with Cameroon on the World Cup finals stage. This is most likely his last opportunity with which he's able to go past the group stage with Cameroon into the knockout stage. Eto'o will be a man on fire when given an opportunity to attack and make runs into the box. The massive pace the former Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Anzhi former once held has diminished a little yet the intensity and  goal-scoring instinct, the same which made him one of the most lethal strikers in the world, has not 

Key Battles 

• Song & M'Bia v. the Mexican midfield - in a physical and fast paced game, the partnership between Mbia and Song will be both dictating the pace of the Cameroon team, as well trying to inhibit the Mexican team from making direct attacks on goal.

• Mexico vs. Itself - As many of you may know, Mexico hobbled and fought across the finishing line with which they had to face New Zealand for an opportunity to reach the World Cup in a playoff. The Mexican team has gone through many scandals within the last 4 years since the last World Cup, however the internal struggle to reach this World Cup has been their inability to solidify a preference towards home based players or those playing abroad. Carlos Vela excused himself from this World Cup, citing a lack of "mental preparation" with which to represent his nation on the biggest stage. A world class forward, forgoing the opportunity to lead his nation's forward line at the largest sporting event in the world, demonstrates something that is majorly amiss within the Mexican footballing federation. The Mexican National team, as a whole, must unify and iron out the kinks in both a rather error prone defense and an ineffective forward line in order to reach the second rounds in an already difficult group. 

Impact Subs:

Mexico 

Aquino, Marco Fabian, Chicharito

Cameroon

Egar Salli, Moting, Makoun

Final Predictions: 

Mexico 2 - 2 Cameroon 

The initial game between these two teams presents the best opportunity for which either can gain a solid 3 points and get a head start on solidifying a place for the second round. Both teams are not up to par to face either Brazil nor Croatia and so Friday's clash between the two will be crucial and vital. I see a high scoring intense affair between the two being in place.