El Tri's October meeting with the All Whites seemed to be just another friendly but instead ended up aiding preparation for Wednesday's group game
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio reaped enormous benefit from a friendly match last year against New Zealand, getting game action against Wednesday's Confederations Cup opponent without even knowing the teams would meet this summer.
El Tri topped New Zealand 2-1 in Nashville in October, a month before the champions of CONCACAF and their counterparts from Oceania knew they were drawn into the same group of this tournament.
At the time the match was criticized as another 'molero', a game that wouldn't serve Mexico at all.