Mexico National Team

The 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship, which doubles as qualification for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil, is fast approaching. Over the course of 16 days in Bradenton, Florida, 20 teams will battle for the four World Cup spots, and Mexico will look to win its fourth straight title at this level.

El Tri defeated the U.S. in the last final back in 2017. That match featured the likes of Jairo Torres and Roberto de la Rosa for Mexico while the U.S. called on Josh Sargent and Tim Weah. 

Last night, a crowd of 50,000 watched Mexico defeat Paraguay 4-2 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, to make it two wins in two matches for new manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino. 

During a space of 18 first half minutes, El Tri posted three on the South American side to effectively put the game to bed. LA Galaxy midfielder Jonathan dos Santos scored his first international goal in his 40th appearance, Gustavo Gomez put one into his own net and then Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez slotted home the third with only 24 minutes on the clock.

Fresh off scoring an excellent goal in Mexico’s 3-1 friendly win over Chile last Friday, El Tri boss Gerardo “Tata” Martino is confident that now’s the time for Hirving “Chucky” Lozano to make a move to one of Europe’s bigger leagues.

Gerardo “Tata” Martino’s last match as a coach before Friday night was Atlanta United’s MLS Cup victory in December. He picked up right where he left off as Mexico’s new coach.

Mexico scored three goals in 14 minutes to top Chile 3-1 in a friendly on Friday night at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. 

While this was just a friendly, this was a country that beat Mexico 7-0 in the 2016 Copa America. Not bad for Martino’s first match in charge of El Tri.

PSV Eindhoven recorded a massive 1-0 victory over VVV-Venlo at De Koel on Sunday, and the game’s lone goal was an impressive solo strike from Hirving “Chucky” Lozano in the 86th minute.

The victory takes PSV five points above Ajax at the top of the Eredivisie table following the Champions League quarterfinalists' defeat against AZ Alkmaar later in the day. 

The goal was Chucky’s 15th in 24 league games this season (to go along with six assists), and 19th in 34 appearances across all competitions. But this was perhaps the 23-year-old’s finest for the club.

According to Portuguese media outlet Record, Wolverhampton has agreed to a deal with Benfica and Raúl Jiménez to sign the on-loan striker permanently in the summer.

A big storyline from Major League Soccer’s opening weekend was the debut of 16-year-old LA Galaxy phenom Efrain Alvarez. The Los Angeles native was an academy product before becoming a revelation in the USL last year, scoring 12 goals and adding three assists in 17 appearances for the club’s reserve team, LA Galaxy II. 

Hirving “Chucky” Lozano’s 14th Eredivisie goal of the season salvaged a point for PSV in a 1-1 draw with third-place Feyenoord, but the club’s lead at the top of the table was cut to just two points following Ajax’s 5-1 victory over Den Haag. 

Feyenoord had Sven van Beek sent off in the 59th minute at the Philips Stadion, but the visitors still managed to take the lead through Nicolai Jorgensen in the 70th minute.

The first Gerardo “Tata” Martino Mexico squad has been unveiled, and it’s a doozy. The former Atlanta United, Barcelona and Argentina coach named four uncapped players to a 24-man roster for a camp that will begin Sunday in Mexico City.

Hirving Chucky Lozano added one more honor to his stellar 2018 year — Concacaf Male Player of the Year, announced Tuesday as part of the Concacaf Awards. Alex Morgan joined him with top honors, taking home Concacaf Female Player of the Year for the third straight year and fourth overall.