Mexico will face the team to beat, the USA, in the opening game of the 2015 IFAF World Championships in Canton, Ohio.
After facing the Americans, and due to the new format for the tournament the Aztecas will play each of the other powerful Group A opponents, Canada and Japan. If all goes well, and the Mexicans advance to the play-off round they could expect to play the semi-final key game against Group B favorites, France.
On Tuesday, the Federacion Mexicana De Futbol Americano (FMFA) released it’s preliminary roster of Team Mexico. The roster named 55 players that could be part of the final list of 45 players who will attend the Canton, Ohio to play in the IFAF World Championships. Mexican head coach Raul Rivera was clear in stating;
“We are seeking to form to the best Mexican team ever to go for the championship!”
Mexico will play its first round game against the USA, on July 9, while Canada will play Japan on the same day. Two days later on July 11 the winners of these first games will meet each other, as will the losers.
FMFA President Jose Orobio
The top three of four teams who are victorious in this first round of games will advance to a semifinal round, where it is expected that the strongest team is France, who will battle for first place in Group B against Australia, South Korea and Brazil. Only team from Group will advance to the semi-final round.
Coach Rivera on the Aztecas first round opponents during the presentation of the preliminary rosters;
“Fortunately we open against the United States and so both teams will be fresh, allowing us to compete head to head with them. Then we have our chances with our second opponent Canada, who must win; and will close against Japan, we already know who we play.
We know what teams play us and now everything is good. Because we assume that the against United States can we win, we assume that we are better than Canada, we assume that we are better than Japan, but we only assume … because we have never won against the USA or Japan and we have never played against Canada in a World Championship, so it is now time to show that we are really better and truly beat them all!”
With the way the contest has been formatted, Mexico could play members of the group twice
“We expect to play against the United States in the inaugural game and possibly again in the game that ends the tournament: the Championship Final,” said Jorge Orobio, president of the Federacion Mexicana De Futbol Americano (FMFA).
The final list of 45 elements that integrate the Mexican national team will be released during the month of May as the national teams plans to have at least 30 pre-World Championship practices.
You can find the preliminary rosters for the Mexican squad below;
