Friendlies between heavyweight South American teams are all the rage in the US this month, which is just as well when these showpiece contests are aiming to fill huge stadia such as the Alamodome, where Argentina play Mexico on Wednesday.
Visiting one of the world's largest covered sports venues, this is part of Mexico's 17th annual tour of the country, organised by the commercial arm of Major League Soccer. Their five matches so far this year have averaged a shade under five goals per game, so expect entertainment.
Match preview
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Argentina generally had the better of a tough encounter with Chile on Friday, playing out an entertaining goalless draw in Los Angeles.
Only the width of the crossbar prevented River Plate prospect Lucas Martinez from giving his side a breakthrough in the rerun of the Copa America third-place play-off.
Coach Lionel Scaloni, who has been in charge for just over 13 months, said he was pleased with the performance of his younger squad members in a match in which they produced almost three times as many attempts on target as their tricky opponents.
Argentina are two places ahead of Mexico in the World Ranking, standing tenth after departing the Copa America at the semi-final stage with a 2-0 defeat to eventual winners Brazil.
They beat Chile 2-1 in the play-off, racing into a two-goal lead inside 22 minutes through goals from Sergio Aguero and Paulo Dybala before Arturo Vidal's 59th-minute penalty proved only a consolation for their victims.
That semi-final defeat against Brazil is Argentina's only loss in six games, although they have only won three of their last seven, including an uncertain Copa America group stage in which they lost 2-0 to Colombia and drew 1-1 with Paraguay.
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Mexico enjoyed an impressive 3-0 win over the USA on Friday, entering cruise control after taking the lead within 20 minutes in New Jersey.
Sevilla striker Javier Hernandez scored the opener, extending his record-setting tally for his country to 52 international goals.
The win came less than two months after Mexico beat the USA 1-0 in the Gold Cup final in the culmination of a run of results that included a narrow win over Martinique, victory over Costa Rica on penalties and an extra-time knockout of Haiti.
El Tri are unbeaten in 11 matches, winning nine of those in 90 minutes, but their last taste of defeat was a pair of 2-0 defeats on a visit to Argentina last November, when they played these opponents twice in five days.
Mexico have won only five of the 34 fixtures between these sides and one of the last 17 stretching back to 1990 - a 1-0 Copa America group stage victory in 2004 has been their only success.
Argentina form: DWWLWD
Mexico form: WWDDWW
Team News
© ReutersWith less than a year to go until qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, both teams will spend much of the next year experimenting.
Ahead of a fixture list largely consumed by friendlies and the inaugural Concacaf Nations League, Scaloni will be without captain and chief goal threat Lionel Messi until November.
The striker saw red following an altercation with Chile's Gary Medel during the first half of the Copa America final, then received a three-month ban for post-match remarks questioning the integrity of South American football's governing body.
Midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, who joined Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan from Real Betis in August, has played down a groin injury that could keep him out of the match. The 23-year-old was withdrawn early in the second half against Chile.
Looking to enhance his near-perfect run of results since being appointed in January, Mexico coach Gerardo Martino says the quality of his squad will allow him to afford plenty of players game time while still pursuing wins.
Martino made one appearance for Argentina in 1991 but is now plotting their downfall, albeit without captain Andres Guardado, who has returned home as his wife is expecting to give birth imminently.
The Real Betis midfielder will be an absentee alongside Luis Rodriguez and Cesar Montes. Both defenders have returned to their club sides due to fitness issues.
Rodolfo Pizarro underwent hospital treatment for appendicitis on Friday, ruling the Monterrey midfielder out of the meeting with Argentina.
Argentina possible starting lineup:
Andrada; Montiel, Otamendi, Balerdi, Tagliafico; de Paul, Paredes, Palacios, Correa; Dybala, Martinez
Mexico possible starting lineup:
Ochoa; Alvarez, Navarro, Pinedo, Moreno; Lozano, Antuna, Gutierrez; Vega, Hernandez, Jimenez
We say: Argentina 2-2 Mexico
With the name of the game in these tours being entertainment for American crowds, Mexico will be looking to continue the form with which they have scored at least three goals in each of their five friendlies this year.
The nation of Martino's birth, as the coach knows, contain stellar talent all over the pitch, from Manchester City centre-back Nicolas Otamendi to Paris Saint-Germain midfielder and Juventus forward Dybala. That should give them the quality to resist their in-form rivals.
Ben Miller
