THE WORLD'S GAME

While most trips between Indiana and Mexico begin in Indianapolis and end south of the border, this weekend a group of young athletes will do the exact opposite. The Mexican Under-20 team, known as El Tricolores, will arrive in the Hoosier state to take on both Notre Dame and IU this weekend. \nNotre Dame will be the first to host Mexico, with the game being played Friday night in South Bend. The Hoosiers will then get their shot at one \nof the leading U-20 teams in the world on Sunday at 3 p.m. in Bill Armstrong Stadium. \nMexico’s team currently features several players from the U-17 team that beat Brazil for the U-17 World Cup in 2005. Its star player, Giovani dos Santos, has been dubbed the “heir to Ronaldinho” according to FIFA.com. Dos Santos was awarded the Silver Ball at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Cup.\nThis will be the third meeting between IU and Mexico. Currently, the teams have a split series with IU defeating Mexico in the last meeting, 2-0. Although the Hoosiers have already taken on both an MLS team and the collegiate team with the most national championships this spring season, freshman midfielder Eric Alexander believes this will be the toughest match yet.\n“It should be real tough,” Alexander said. “They’re probably one of the best teams in the world for their age group. It should be fun. We’ll be happy to be out there and hopefully we’ll get a big crowd, too.”\nDespite the great challenge in front of the team, junior midfielder Charley Traylor senses anticipation about this match from his teammates. \n“I think the players are a lot more excited to play this team than other teams we’ve played this season,” Traylor said.\nTraylor also said the match will be a good opportunity to play competition that the team doesn’t normally compete against and noted that the Hoosiers have high hopes to end the season strong. Coach Mike Freitag agrees that this matchup will be a good game and also a challenge for his players, but thinks they are ready for it.\n“It’s an exciting game,” Freitag said. “This is a little bit different. My guys look for this type of challenge. It’s what they want.” \nUnfortunately for the Hoosiers, this challenge will have to be attacked with the absence of one of their most powerful players. Freshman forward Darren Yeagle, who scored the first goal of the spring season in the game against the Louisville Cardinals, tore his ACL during last weekend’s game against Cincinnati. Although this is a setback for both the team and Yeagle, Freitag anticipates a full recovery and looks forward to his return sometime next season.\n“We’ve been very fortunate,” Freitag said. “We haven’t had an injury like this in a while. But we’ve had them over the years, and guys have come back as strong as ever, and I expect Darren to come back stronger than ever.”