USA to open World Baseball Classic against Mexico

Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera is going to play for Venezuela in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

Cabrera was among the first 32 players — 12 major leaguers — to commit to playing in the tournament that begins March 2 with games hosted by two-time defending champion Japan and Taiwan.

The Mets' David Wright and Minnesota's Joe Mauer will play for the United States. The team managed by Joe Torre has been placed in Pool D for the first round with Italy, Mexico (The Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez), and Canada (Toronto's Brett Lawrie and Minnesota's Justin Morneau). The U.S. plays its first game March 8 against Mexico at Chase Field in Phoenix.

Torre is ready for some tough competition in the opening round of the tournament.

"It's just sort of like managing the Yankees for me because everybody for the USA always want to put on their Sunday best to make sure that they see a team that they're going to be proud of," Torre said Monday at the winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn. "So that's one thing I guess I'm sort of used to, is that when they see that USA across our chest, they're going to — it's going to get them to another level, and we have to be ready for that."

Continue reading about the opening of the World Baseball Classic against Mexico at USAToday.com!

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Mexico advances to Gold Cup finals

El Tri has returned to the Gold Cup finals for the second time in two consecutive years, toppling Honduras 2-0 in extra time. With the USA winning on Wednesday, soccer fans will get a spectacular matchup Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

The United States is on a hot streak since the 2-1 loss to Panama on June 11. In all matches following this upset, the Americans have shut out its last three opponents. They will need to keep the momentum flowing as the USA will matchup against an almost unstoppable Mexico squad.

By now the world knows Mexico's abilities and many of El Tri's star players, as the same goes for the USA. Chicharito vs. Donovan, dos Santos vs. Dempsey, these are the players fans will be watching to see how each performs Saturday night. The ratings for this match should be through the roof and I would assume by the time you are reading this post, the Rose Bowl has already been sold out. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00pm in Pasadena, California.

Honduras gave Mexico all it could handle, but does the USA have what it takes to hang with El Tri?

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Tug of war: U.S. and Mexico both position for Miguel Ángel Ponce in roster

Should I stay or should I go? It seems left back position player, Miguel Angel Ponce, is a hot commodity. According to mlssoccer.com, Ponce's services are wanted on both the Mexico and U.S. clubs. Mexico, who are also participating in June's Gold Cup, decided to take an Under-22 squad to take part in the Copa América. Ponce is one of six Chivas players called by Tena. However, all this roster positioning and debate by these two clubs is not a huge concern for Ponce, in September 2010, Ponce told MLSsoccer.com, "I was born in America, but in my case, my family is Mexican, so I’m more Mexican than American. ... If the US is interested [in my services], then I haven’t noticed."

It seems Ponce will be sticking with Tena's Mexican club, yet this story does open up a good discussion regarding team/national allegiance and a player's career choices.

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