HOUSTON, Texas -- Following a first training session on Wednesday at the practice grounds of Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo, the Mexican national team opened the doors to the media two days ahead of its match with Guyana at BBVA Compass Stadium.

Mexico has already secured its place in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying, making the environment in the team somewhat more relaxed than usual.  Head coach Jose Manuel De la Torre has called in a squad with a number of new faces, leaving several regulars out for games versus Guyana and El Salvador to close out the semifinal phase.

Even though these matches won't affect Mexico's final standing in the group, the players still say that each opponent should be taken seriously and the games treated with the level of respect merited by any national team fixture.

"We have to take each game as an opportunity," said Zinha, who was called back to the national team after an absence of over a year.  "We should have fun, try to be calm and give our best.  Even though we have the ticket to the hexagonal wrapped up, we have to play seriously."

Mexico has maintained a perfect record thus far in the semifinal round, defeating Costa Rica twice last month, 2-0 on the road and 1-0 in Mexico City.  El Tri now has twelve points from four matches after also having triumphed over Guyana and El Salvador in June.

A 3-1 victory over the Golden Jaguars began the round, followed by a 2-1 win in San Salvador thanks to a late Hector Moreno goal.

Qualifying success for El Tri comes on top of a number of other recent achievements by Mexican Football Federation sides, including the Olympic title secured this summer in London.

Mexico's full team has won eight of ten matches this year across friendlies and qualifiers.  Despite the fact that the team is already qualified for CONCACAF's hexagonal, the players are motivated to continue that good run of form in the upcoming games.

"We need to close the year the same way we started, just like we've done up until now, with two wins more, while respecting the rivals, and always taking the games as seriously as we have up until now," said defender Francisco Rodriguez.

After taking on Guyana, Mexico will return home to Torreon, where it will play host to El Salvador to conclude the semifinal round.