By Stephen Tew (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Sep 08, 2015 05:50 PM EDT

El Tri's final friendly match ahead of October's crucial Confederation Cup playoff with the United States comes against significantly tougher opposition than they have become accustomed to in recent months as they face a revived Argentina team.

The World Cup finalists started their preparations for their 2018 World Cup Qualifiers, which also kick off in October, with a resounding 7-0 victory on Friday night against Bolivia.

Friday's match saw the return of Lionel Messi after being rested by Argentina coach Gerrardo Martino and the world's best player marked his return with two goals to add to goals from Sergio Aguero, Eziquiel Lavezzi and Angel Correa.

The resurgence of Tuesday's opponents will come as bad news to Mexico interim manager Ricardo Ferretti who will be hoping that his side can gain a positive result to build confidence and momentum ahead of next month's playoffs.

Having begun his tenure as interim coach on Friday, Ferretti will be concerned about his side's defensive frailties. El Tri conceded three times against Trinidad and Tobago and despite having seen his side battle back to claim a 3-3 draw, Ferretti will know that any similar defensive lapses against the Argentines could be ruthlessly punished and end in a confidence zapping heavy defeat.

Ferretti maintained a positive outlook though saying: "It would've been much better to have won the game for confidence, but I have good conclusions right now."

Argentina are likely to make several changes to their lineup for tomorrow's match from their lineup against Bolivia, but coach Gerrado Martino will still field a very strong, attack-minded team.

Martino said: "The idea is to play everyone across the Bolivia and Mexico games, but I have not yet decided my team. Ezequiel Garay, Pablo Zabaleta, Lucas Biglia, Javier Pastore, Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria are in my squad, but I will have to see how they recover from their injuries."

Argentina will take the field at the AT&T Stadium as overwhelming favorites, but the toughness of the test will be incredibly useful for Ferretti and his Mexico side, seeing as the Argentines will offer a far greater threat than the US and there will be fewer tests that truly measure Mexico's capabilities.

If his side are able to match the Argentines and take away a draw or even a victory from Arlington, then it could be the sort of lift thy need to surge into October's playoffs brimming with belief and raring to go.


When: Tuesday, September 8th
Kick Off: 10:00 AM ET
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
TV Schedule: ESPN2, Unimas
Live Stream:
LiveSoccerTV ESPNGo

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