Uruguay looks ready for Copa America. Mexico? Not so much

This was not how El Tri was hoping to warm up for the tournament this month

It may have only been a friendly, but Mexico looks like it has some real reasons to worry ahead of the Copa América.

In its penultimate warm-up friendly before the tournament, El Tri was hammered 4-0 by Uruguay in Denver on Wednesday night.

Mexico head coach Jaime Lozano may have started a somewhat experimental lineup against La Celeste, but that didn’t fully account for how lost El Tri appeared — especially in the first half.

It wasn’t just that Uruguay scored four times — three of which came from Liverpool striker Darwin Núñez — but how easy some of those goals were.

Case in point: Uruguay’s second, scored by Facundo Pellistri. A bad turnover led to an easy passing combination that cut up the heart of Mexico’s midfield. That led to a Brian Rodríguez cross that found Pellistri completely unmarked at the penalty spot.

Núñez, meanwhile, scored all three of his goals from inside the six-yard area.

The game was also marred yet again by the discriminatory chant that has become a staple of Mexico games, particularly when things aren’t going El Tri’s way. The match was stopped midway through the second half as the chant was clearly heard at Empower Field at Mile High.

Mexico tried to put a brave face on after the game, insisting that the result will help them grow in the long run.

“We know that we must be patient and support ourselves as a family, Edson Álvarez told TUDN after the game. “We don’t like to lose, but these games are what make you grow, you compete against elite players, you measure yourself against who you want to be.”

Things won’t get any easier now for Mexico. The team’s final Copa América tune-up comes on Saturday night against Brazil.

After rotating his squad against Uruguay, Lozano said after the game that he would field a stronger side in College Station, Texas.

“Now with Brazil we will see more familiar faces because as the players join in, it is not worth risking them playing longer if they do not have the training time,” the coach said.

“Today’s result hurts us a lot, but it will serve us a lot.”

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