Mexico begins Gold Cup play on June 5 but before then El Tri has two exhibition matches against teams that have virtually nothing in common in terms of soccer style with the teams it will face in the CONCACAF tournament.

The first friendly is Saturday 1 p.m. at Qwest Field in Seattle against Ecuador.

Mexico has faced Ecuador four times in the last five years. The series goes like this: They've played in 2007, 2008, didn't play in 2009, faced each other again in 2010 and will do it again in 2011.

"It is a good national team that will surely push us to the limit," said Mexico's coach, Jose Manuel de la Torre.

El Tri has a loaded roster filled with its stars; the same roster Mexico will take to the Gold Cup.

Andrés Guardado, Carlos Vela, Giovani Dos Santos, Pablo Barrera, Efraín Juárez and Héctor Moreno are the standout Mexican players who play in Europe. They will be the big draw in the exhibition matches.

Mexico and Ecuador have faced each other 15 times and the stats favor the Aztec team with 10 wins, one loss and four ties.

The only time Mexico lost to Ecuador came the first time the two teams met. That was June 30, 1993 in Quito, Ecuador's capital. Ecuador won 2-0.

Since then, Mexico has dominated. Ecuador has been the victim of 24 Mexican goals while it has only scored against El Tri 11 times.

Ecuador is under the leadership of coach Reinaldo Rueda. The team has some players familiar with Mexican soccer, such as defender Walter Ayovi, who plays for Monterrey.

Mexico vs. New Zealand will be Wednesday at Invesco Field in Denver.

There is hardly any history between these two teams. They've played each other twice. The first time it was in Aukland, New Zealand's capital. The home team beat Mexico 4-0 on August 20, 1980.

Mexico beat New Zealand 2-0 on March 3 of last year in an exhibition in Pasadena.

New Zealand has been to two World Cups, Spain 1982 and 2010 in South Africa. In South Africa, New Zealand played to a draw in all three of its matches in the group stage against Paraguay, Italy and Slovakia.

The three points were not enough to reach the second round but they can say they are the only team to finish the 2010 World Cup unbeaten.

Abraham.nudelstejer@sandiegored.com