Germany and Mexico will go head-to-head on October 17 and head coach Julian Nagelsmann knows it will be a different challenge for his team compared to their win over the US.
Nagelsmann kicked off his tenure as the Germany boss with an impressive 3-1 triumph over the USMNT as goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Niclas Fullkrug and Jamal Musiala propelled the European side to victory after Christian Pulisic opened the scoring early on.
The clash at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the first time the two teams will meet since the dramatic 1-0 victory for El Tri at the 2018 World Cup. That famous result knocked Die Mannschaft out of the tournament at the group stage as they exited Russia in last place in Group F.
Things were looking grim for the four-time World Cup champions with Hansi Flick at the helm as they exited the 2022 World Cup at the group stance once again, and with Nagelsmann now at the controls, Germany will hope to get back to winning ways.
"First of all, Mexico is a very different team from the United States," Nagelsmann said after the game. "They try to play a little faster in deep spaces, more diagonal passes, they press and they like to have the ball more in their own half."
The former RB Leipzig head coach gave praise to Mexico ahead of the game, claiming it can only be good for his team to face different kinds of opponents in preparation for the 2024 European Championship.
"The movements are faster on their court, they are aggressive in head-to-head duels both in attack and defense," he said. "So it will be a different game, a different structure than today [against the US], but that is good to develop when you face two different opponents."
Nagelsmann will look to go two-for-two as Germany boss, while Mexico's Jaime Lozano has lost just once in his nine games in charge - a 1-0 defeat to Qatar in the Gold Cup group stage where he rotated his starting lineup. El Tri were already through to the knockout phase and eventually went on to capture the Gold Cup title that led to the 45-year-old being appointed on a permanent basis.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Julian Nagelsmann reveals key differences between USMNT and Mexico.