Juan Carlos Osorio leads Mexico into their first match of the year in afriendly against African side Senegal from Miami, Florida Friday night. With the makeshift roster that sees no European players brought up because it’s not a FIFA international date, and no Club America players by the coach's choice, the roster gives plenty of opportunity for the players to prove themselves.

Osorio Is Unlike Other Mexican Coaches

Unlike other Mexican coaches in the past, Osorio has shown to an unwillingness to give too much info about his lineup or formations beforehand. In the two games he’s coached under Mexico we’ve seen El Tri play in a 4-3-3 formation against El Salvador that quickly turned into a 4-2-4. Against Honduras they came out with a 5-3-2 that included four center backs which turned into a 4-4-2 as the game went on.

With that said, with the players called up and the positions they play the safe bet is that Osorio will come out playing a 4-4-2. In goal, Jesus Corona could get the nod to start and could also captain the team. Regardless, he and Alejandro Palacios will most likely split a half in the game.

On the backline, Jorge Torres Nilo should get the start at left back and club teammate Israel Jimenez start on the right. Regarding the two center backs, look for Carlos Salcedo to start at left center back and be joined by Yasser Corona or Jose Rivas as the right center back.

Midfield Tough To Call

The midfield is where it’s tough to call with plenty of young talent and inform quality players to choose from. Jesus Zavala and Jesus Molina will most likely share time at the defensive midfield position. Look for Luis Montes to play a more attacking midfield position and help pull the strings for the team. With the injury of Javier Aquino, Jürgen Damm could switch to the left and have Rodolfo Pizzaro start on the right.

Up top Eduardo Herrera needs to get the start and should play the forward who’s the highest player up the field and have Henry Martin or Hirving Lozano play behind him.

With the players at hand, the team could quickly switch to a 4-3-3 and have Lozano and Jürgen play higher up the field as wing forwards, and allow Erick Gutierrez to come in and give the center midfielders more room to run. At the same time, it will allow more room for the wingbacks to get up and join the attack.

Possible Starting XI

GK: Corona
DF: Jimenez, Corona, Salcedo, Torres Nilo
MF: Pizzaro, Zavala, Montes, Damm
FW: Martin, Herrera