Juan Carlos Osorio: Hirving Lozano has a bright future

Mexico head coach Juan Carlos Osorio has heaped praise on winger Hirving Lozano after he scored a brace in El Tri's 3-3 friendly draw versus Belgium at the King Baudouin Stadium. The 22-year-old moved from his native Pachuca to join PSV Eindhoven in the summer and has since excelled scoring nine goals in his first nine appearances in the Eredivisie.

Speaking after the game, Osorio was pleased with the attacker's contribution on the night and also acknowledged the efforts PSV have taken to groom several Mexican players including Andres Guardado, Hector Moreno, Carlos Salcido, and Francisco Rodriguez.

He said: "It's easy now to say he has a great future, two years ago when Carlos Vela and Jesus 'Tecatito' Corona were usually playing, he was only a topic of discussion. Today he's reaching his level and its credit to what he has done to improve. PSV continue to believe in Mexican footballers," Osorio said. "Today Lozano has taken a major step in showing that what he has been doing [at PSV] is not a coincidence"

Mexico will now shift their focus to a friendly against Poland in Gdansk on Monday where they could be without both Javier Hernandez and Edson Alvarez, who suffered knocks versus Belgium. Having put in a strong performance against the fifth rank club in the FIFA rankings, Mexico will fancy a positive result with Poland, who they could potentially face at next summer's World Cup finals in Russia.

Meanwhile, Lozano's reputation has reached new heights following his switch to Europa last summer, and recent reports have suggested that he could make a switch to the Premier League with Arsenal in January. The Gunners are presently mulling over the winter sale of Alexis Sanchez, who has just seven months left on his contract, and the Mexican has been earmarked as a prime target to fill the void on the left wing.