Having been placed into one of the toughest groups in the European Zone of 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Wales had no choice but to choose strong opponents for one of their final preparation games and they don’t get much stronger than Mexico.

The Dragons have long been considered one of the most talented sides in world football, but they are slowly becoming infamous for not being able to fulfill their potential.

With the likes of Bellamy, Bale, Ramsey and Allen in the squad, Wales surely have enough quality to battle for a place at a major tournament, but they continue to fall short of major tournament finals.

Following a promising finish to their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, during which they won three of last four games, the Dragons hammered Norway and lost to Costa Rica in next two friendly games and are now set to face Mexico without a host of first team regulars.

With Gareth Bale, Joe Ledley, David Vaughan, Darcy Blake, Neal Eardley and Lewis Price all missing out through injury, not even odds of 7.50 (13/2) offered by BetVictor on Wales look tempting enough, especially as the game is played in New York, USA.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Brown – Matthews, Williams, Gunter, Ricketts – Edwards, Ramsey, Allen, King – Bellamy, Morrison.

Unlike Wales, Mexico have absolutely no problems of reaching the major tournament finals as they are almost guaranteed a safe passage from the CONCACAF Zone, alongside United States.

Such circumstances allow the team to have much longer preparations for the final tournament than most other nations and no wonder El Tri usually do well at the World Cup.

Mexico have played a series of friendly games over the last six months, beating the likes of Chile, Serbia and Venezuela, while losing to Brazil and Colombia.

Seeing that boss Jose Manuel de la Toure has named a pretty strong squad, El Tri are 1.53 (8/15) favourites with 888sport to triumph at MetLife Stadium.

Star players Guillermo Ochoa, Rafa Marquez, Javier Hernandez and Giovani dos Santos are all in the side, but Carlos Vela has rejected a call-up from the national team.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Ochoa – Jimenez, Moreno, F. Rodriguez, Salcido – Barrera, Marquez, Perez, Guardado – Dos Santos, Hernandez.