As far as the game itself goes, the game means a bit more to Brazil than Mexico only because this is their final preparation match before World Cup qualifying begins. Yes, believe it or not, World Cup qualifying begins in South America next month, just 15 months after the end of the last World Cup.
Brazil will play Ecuador and Colombia in October in their first two World Cup qualifiers. That South American qualifying campaign is a monster. It's a true test of a team's depth and ability to sustain a high level of play over a long period of time. In 2009, they'll still be playing qualifiers.
Here's a story from the Boston Herald about the match with a mostly Brazilian angle.
Mexico, meanwhile, doesn't have any pending tournament or qualifiers ahead but this is game is also with that in mind. We might finally be entering a new era in Mexican soccer as some of the standbys such as Jared Borgetti, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Oswaldo Sanchez and Ramon Morales may not be used much if at all in the future. Yes, some of those players are injured but their time has come and gone and it's refreshing to see some young players like Patricio Araujo, Julio Dominguez and Luis Angel Landin aside from the Gios and Velas of the Mexican soccer world.
The casual Mexican soccer fan might not recognize this team much. Rafael Marquez, Carlos Salcido, Gerardo Torrado and Andres Guardado are pretty much well-known Mexican internationals but the rest of the team is young and ranges from somewhat experienced internationals (Jonny Magallon, Juan Carlos Cacho) to not-at-all experienced (Jorge Hernandez, Hector Moreno). But that's a good thing, though.
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