Diego Cocca’s Mexico welcome African outfit Cameroon to Snapdragon Stadium in the USA this weekend in an international friendly as part of the 2023 MexTour.
El Tri will be looking to find back-to-back wins to finish off their preparation for their CONCACAF Nations League semi-final next week. Mexico recorded a routine 2-0 triumph over Guatemala earlier this week thanks to goals from Raul Jimenez and Roberto de la Rosa and will now take on Rigobert Song’s Cameroon in the build-up to their clash with the USA.
After a disappointing World Cup that saw Mexico fail to get out of the group stage, they have gone undefeated since and managed to top Group A of the CONCACAF Nations League, picking up a 2-0 victory away to Suriname and drawing 2-2 with Jamaica recently. They also drew 1-1 against the USA back in April in what can be seen as a warm-up for the Nations League knockouts.
Meanwhile, Cameroon are on a run of three games without a win and suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Namibia when they last played back in March. That has left them in second place of their Group C standings of the African Cup of Nations qualification. A clash against Mexico here will be a good test as Les Lions Indomptables search for their first win since January at the African Nations Championship.
Cameroon do not play until September after this fixture here so Song will be desperate for his side to get back on track before they face Burundi in their African Cup of Nations qualifier later this year.
El Tri and Les Lions Indomptables met at the 2014 World Cup as Mexico ran out narrow 1-0 victors after a second half goal from Oribe Peralta. Cameroon finished bottom of Group A in Brazil without registering a single point as Mexico reached the last 16.
After scoring his first goal for Mexico in a year against Guatemala, Jimenez will be looking to build on that and keep the momentum up before their crucial match against the USA. The captain was able to score from the spot earlier this week and it was also his first goal across the board since last November.
Rennes forward Karl Toko Ekambi and Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo will be the key men up top for Cameroon and could very much threaten the Mexico defence. The former managed five goal contributions in just 17 appearances in Ligue Un, whilst the latter was able to record an impressive 17 goal contributions in the Premier League.
Twenty-three-year-old De la Rosa could be pushing for a start for Cocca’s side after he managed to hit the back of the net last time out. It remains to be seen whether Jimenez will keep his place up top for El Tri since Cocca will have one eye on the USA fixture next week.
Andre Onana will not be able to feature in between the sticks for Cameroon since the Inter man has the Champions League final to play. He has also been in dispute with head coach Song in recent years so it remains to be seen what the real reason is for his omission.
Expert Insight: Mexico should have too much quality for a Cameroon side that have struggled for form now for some time. However, El Tri could rest a number of players which could allow Ekambi and Mbeumo to strike.
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