International Friendly Preview: Mexico v Ecuador

Mexico coach Miguel Herrera sees Saturday’s friendly with Ecuador as a chance to establish his starting line-up ahead of the FIFA World Cup.

The two sides go head to head at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, with both teams looking to build some momentum heading into their opening tournament fixtures in Brazil.

Mexico’s preparations have already begun in impressive style, with a 3-0 triumph over Israel on Thursday, with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Portugal still to come before their campaign gets underway against Cameroon on June 13.

After the win over Israel, which acted as a farewell for the retiring Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Herrera stated that there was still room for improvement and also urged caution on midfielder Hector Herrera, who sat out Thursday’s match.

“There are still distractions,” he said. “We must continue this coordination, the movements that we want are things that we will be correcting.

“We hope that when we get to Dallas to train, he (Herrera) arrives at the stadium having recovered well, but there is no hurry if the doctor says that he is not 100 per cent.

“We hope that on Saturday we have a full compliment, then we can begin to see others and begin to make decisions about who are going to be the core of the team.”

Ecuador were last in action almost two weeks ago, when Jefferson Montero’s goal was cancelled out by a glorious volley from Robin van Persie in a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in Amsterdam.

Unlike Mexico, Ecuador’s final 23-man party is yet to be announced, with head coach Reinaldo Rueda still waiting to decide on who will make the cut before FIFA’s final deadline of June 2.

One man hoping to be included is Tijuana midfielder Fidel Martinez, who spoke to reporters upon the team’s arrival in the United States.

“Everything stops because we represent our country,” he said.

Ecuador narrowly achieved automatic qualification for the World Cup, finishing fourth in the South American section by edging out Uruguay on goal difference.

They have been drawn in Group E along with Switzerland, France and Honduras for the finals, and will take on England on June 4 before their campaign begins in earnest against the Swiss 11 days later.