Mexico Men's National Football Team during their 2011 Gold Cup conquest. (Photo : Reuters)
Former champions Mexico will begin their quest for redemption against lowly Caribbean Cup fourth placers Cuba on Thursday in the group stages of the 2015 Gold Cup at the Soldier Field stadium in Chicago.
El Tri is the winningest Gold Cup team with six championships under its belt, the most recent of which are in 2009 and 2011 when they beat the United States both times.
The US won the title in 2013 against Panama as Mexico settled for fourth, and this year might be the time to re-capture it again.
However, Miguel Herrera's wards would have to go through the tournament without two of its leading men, Manchester United's Javier Hernández and their best defender RCD Espanyol's Héctor Moreno, as per NBC Sports' Pro Soccer Talk.
Nevertheless, the team is still loaded with stars that could take them all the way to the final against the Americans once again, such as team captain Andrés Guardado of Dutch club PSV, Villarreal forward Giovani dos Santos, and Club América striker Oribe Peralta.
Raúl Triana's squad are noticeably underdogs in this match as perhaps only midfielder Ariel Martínez has the capacity to stay at par with the Mexicans.
The prediction is a 3-0 romp of Mexico over Cuba. This game is one of the most one-sided matches on paper, as per Bleacher Report. La Verde is a level above Leones del Caribe in terms of skills, experience, and overall firepower.
Mexico starting lineup (5-3-2 formation): Ochoa; Rodríguez, Aguilar, Layún, Reyes, Nilo; Guardado, Herrera, Peralta; dos Santos, Vela
Cuba starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): D. Guerra; Clavelo, Dranguet, Diz, Vaquero; Márquez, Gomez, F. Guerra, Martínez; Reyes, Cervantes
