Mexico had already booked its ticket to the hexagonal round long before a frustrating and dominating win over Guyana on Friday. Now they take on a team that needs to win if it has any hopes of keep World Cup 2014 dreams alive.
El Salvador had a chance to clinch its berth to the hexagonal stage last Friday at home, but gave Costa Rica a 1-0 win. Now they have unbelievably difficult task of travelling to Mexico to salvage their qualification. Here is how El Salvador advances. They must win against Mexico and hope for a Costa Rican loss to Guyana. That is hard enough on both ends, but if Costa Rica manages a draw, the task becomes more paramount. El Salvador must then win by more than three goals or score exactly three goals and at least as many goals as Costa Rica.
This scenario is as complicated as it sounds because El Salvador has to defeat a Mexican team that has come off one of its most cathartic performances to date. Mexico created opportunity after opportunity but it seemed that luck was not on their side. They hit half-dozen posts or simply shot wide on huge opportunities. The Guyana keeper made saves that seemed to surprise him. But at the 77th minute, Mexico finally scored and then they piled it on for the next nine minutes in what wound up being a 5-0 statement. It was a frustrating match to watch, but one that left the viewer satisfied as the better team finally got the score it deserved. And they did it on the road.
With the relief of knowing they can perform in the clutch, this Mexican squad will likely be confident in front of their home crowd against a team that will have its share of butterflies and nerves.
Predictions: Pete Schauer of Bleacher Report feels confident in a Mexico win. As stated in past articles, Latinospost firmly believes that Mexico will win every qualifying match in the group stage. 3-0 Mexico in this one.
Start Time: 9 p.m. EDT