CUERNAVACA, Mexico -- Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio is asking for home supporters to be patient and unconditionally back the team against Costa Rica at Estadio Azteca on Friday, in Mexico's key World Cup qualifier.
The Ticos go into the match in first position in CONCACAF's Hexagonal table, while Mexico is desperate for a victory at a venue that hasn't been too friendly to the host of late. In Hex qualification for Brazil 2014, Mexico only managed to win one of its five home games.
But El Tri, who has prepared at a slightly lower altitude after a petition from the team's Europe-based players, sees the game as a "new opportunity" in the historic stadium against arguably the strongest opposition it could face in CONCACAF, according to Osorio.
"Spectacular," said coach Osorio when asked to describe what he expects from the match. "It's a great opportunity to win at home and be in first place -- to win against the leaders."
"We know what the three points would mean," he added, hinting at the previous problems at Estadio Azteca.
Osorio said he is expecting a well-organized Costa Rica team -- which usually plays a 5-4-1 formation -- to be compact and make things difficult for Mexico and asked fans in what is likely to be a sold-out stadium to unconditionally support the team, even if patience is required.
"In England, one thing that caught my attention is that the atmosphere comes from the fans and spreads to the team," he said. "Here, it is different.
"We hope Mexican fans are patient because the opposition plays on that."
The game plan is for Mexico to take control early, while being cautious of the damage Costa Rica can cause on the counter-attack through the likes of Johan Venegas, Joel Campbell, Bryan Ruiz and Christian Bolanos. The United States found out last November what sloppily giving the ball away to the Ticos can mean when the Americans fell 4-0 under then-manager Jurgen Klinsmann.
"The word intelligence will be very important because Mexico wants to win," Ruiz told the press in Costa Rica earlier in the week. "From the start it'll be a testing game, but we have the quality to steer through those minutes and control the match.
"Games in recent years [between Mexico and Costa Rica] have been very close, no one has won by more than one goal and the majority have been draws," he continued, pointing to the fact that over the last five games between the two [in 90 minutes] each team has one win, with three draws.
Osorio is set to define his starting XI in El Tri's final training session in Cuernavaca on Thursday evening and will look to build on his record so far of 13 wins, three draws and one loss since he took over. He will be without the injured of quintet Andres Guardado, Jesus "Tecatito" Corona, Giovani dos Santos, Hirving Lozano and Javier Aquino, as well as the suspended Diego Reyes.
The Mexico manager dropped a hint that goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa may be give the start in the stadium where he made his name for Club America, while Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez is one goal off leveling Jared Borgetti's record 46 goals for the national team. Ironically, Hernandez will make his 89th appearance for Mexico, which is the exact number of caps Borgetti won en route to reaching the mark.
It's been 15 years, nine months and eight days since the original 2001 Aztecazo, when Costa Rica inflicted El Tri's first-ever home defeat in World Cup qualifying. The gap between Mexico and Costa Rica has shrunk, as Osorio acknowledged, although the manager believes his team is still the top in its region.
"[Costa Rica] is a great team," said Osorio on ESPN's Futbol Picante on Tuesday. "It's very well-coached, the distances have shrunk, but in the leagues and in football, I believe Mexico is still number one in CONCACAF."