Mexico Stick With Same Starting Lineup Against Brazil
By Gideon Long
(Reuters) - Mexico plan to start their World Cup Group A clash against Brazil with the same lineup that began their opening victory over Cameroon, coach Miguel Herrera said on Monday.
"The team's in good shape. Fortunately all the lads who picked up knocks have recovered well. Physically and mentally they're 100 percent so we're going to go with the same team," he told reporters ahead of Tuesday's match at the Castelao arena.
Mexico beat Cameroon 1-0 and were unfortunate to have two other efforts harshly disallowed but not surprisingly Herrera said he expected a far tougher game against hosts Brazil.
"Brazil are not Cameroon. They're the clear favorites and the most important team in the world. They have players who can change a match in the blink of an eye, so we need keep our eyes peeled and concentrate," he added at the news conference.
Asked how his team planned to deal with Neymar, who scored twice in Brazil's opening 3-1 win over Croatia, Herrera said: "Brazil are more than just Neymar. For me their best player in that match was Oscar, who had an extraordinary game."
The Mexico coach said that even if Brazil's powerful forward Hulk failed to recover from injury, it would make little difference to the quality of their side.
"The quality they have on the bench is amazing," he said. "Take Ramires, for example, a player who's not even in their starting lineup even though he plays for Chelsea. All of their replacements are good enough to be first-team players."
Asked about criticism in Brazil of right back Dani Alves, who came under pressure down the flank against Croatia, Herrera said: "To talk about a player who has won everything there is to win with Barcelona as deficient is a bit much.
"You can't talk about a player being a weak link when he plays for the best national side in the world and one of the best club sides in the world."
A win for either team on Tuesday would leave them on the verge of booking a place in the second round.
The Mexico team that started against Cameroon was:
13-Guillermo Ochoa; 7-Miguel Layun, 2-Francisco Rodriguez, 4-Rafael Marquez, 15-Hector Moreno; 22 Paul Aguilar, 6-Hector Herrera, 18-Andres Guardado, 23-Jose Juan Vazquez; 10-Giovani Dos Santos, 19-Oribe Peralta
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