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Report: Guardado and Marquez healing quickly, could be available for CONCACAF Cup

Andres Guardado Mexico 82

photo by Joe Camporeale/USA Today Sports

By FRANCO PANIZO

The U.S. Men’s National Team recently received some good news with Fabian Johnson and DaMarcus Beasley getting back on the field, but Mexico might soon have a boost of its own via the return of a veteran duo.

Andres Guradado and Rafa Marquez are making good strides in their recoveries from respective injuries and could play a part in the CONCACAF Cup vs. the U.S. on Oct. 10, according to a report from ESPN Deportes. Both Guardado and Marquez have been working with Mexico’s physiotherapist in recent days, but a full decision on their availability is not expected until next week.

Guardado, however, appears to be the closer of the two to returning to action. Suffering from an ankle injury that was initially expected to keep him out four-to-six weeks, the CONCACAF Gold Cup Golden Ball winner is already back to doing field work and could be available for PSV Eindhoven’s clash with Ajax this weekend.

Marquez is dealing with a muscle problem in his right leg and will have to undergo an exam next Wednesday before seeing whether he can take part in the match vs. the Americans.

What do you think about this report? How much of a boost would it be for Mexico to have Guardado and Marquez available to play? Think their lack of form could prove troublesome for El Tri?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. my opinion (and what do i know?)

    if able to play at all, these two players will NOT be at 100%.

    a lot of money is on the line here, for investors. they want to sell tickets.

    a quick check at ussoccer website, this game is not yet sold out.

    also, this game will be showing, also, at “over 200 movie theaters”:
    CONCACAF Cup to be broadcast in over 200 movie theaters nationwide
    http://www.sbisoccer.com/2015/09/concacaf-broadcast-nationwide.html

    nycfc fans, where you at?
    didn’t some of you buy season tickets last year for this year, only to find out, disappointingly, that DP’s are not arriving until mid-summer?

    all opinions aside, a healthy guardado and marquez are a DRAW to people to BUY TICKETS,yes?
    (especially to mex fans, but a draw none-the-less, yes?)

    ============================================

    read the article like this:

    game is not sold out yet. we need to sell more tickets. we hope that exaggerating the recovery rates of two injured players will help to sell out this game soon.

    and also to sell it out in movie theaters across the usa.

    just my 2 cents

    Reply
  2. Batt: are you asking El Comandante if he is a ” Native American” in the sense of being an indigenous person from one of the many tribes that was mercilessly slaughtered by us white people of European extraction ? Or do you consider yourself a native merely because you had the good fortune to be born here because your ancestors killed those indigenous people? And I flew jets in the Air Force for five years. Being in the military doesn’t make me (or you) special.

    Reply
    • Exactly. Let’s be real here, from my experience the people that join the military are the ones that are afraid to move forward with life after high school. They usually didn’t do well in high school and are definitely not going to college and don’t have any job prospects. So what do they do? Military is the only choice. There is a reason why you never see military recruiters at affluent high schools, but every inner-city/under-performing high school has them roaming around.

      “My whole life I have been supported by my parents and just been doing what they tell me to do, and at school I just do what the teachers/faculty tell me to do, but now I am an adult and high school is over, what do I do? I know! I will join the military and let them support me and tell me what to do for the next four years. Keep the cycle going. It will buy me some time until I have to grow up and make a life for myself.”

      Soldiers do an important job, but don’t ask me to throw a parade for them. The majority aren’t doing it out of honor or courage, they are doing it out of need and desperation. They are paying for their sins of not taking the academic part of high school seriously. Show me a military man and I’d win a lot of money betting that every single one of them is probably an alcoholic. I’ll definitely win more than I lose. Just to be clear, I am saying that military life seems to breed alcoholics. They go in normal, they come out alcoholics. Hey better them than me I guess. Happy Veterans Day and Memorial Day!!!

      Reply
  3. El Commadante, prove to me that you are more American than me or your so called “mercenaries.” Are you a Native American? I am 100% and serving in the Marines. These soccer players that you are referring to love America , feel American and do not feel recruited. You are such a hater, and that was such a SLOWLEFTARM comment. If you can’t accept them as Americans and not merceneries, I can’t accept you as American either. What have you done to represent your country?

    Reply
    • Actually, Danny Williams himself referred to the non-germanic players as “the Real Americas,” so apparently he feels that way as well.

      Reply
    • Jack Grealish just chose England (where he was born and raised) over Ireland (for whom he has played at youth level) for “commercial reasons.” I don’t know why some PC types can’t accept that many of the dual nationals who have little to no connection with the US made the choice to play for the USMNT for the same reasons. Playing at the world cup helps raise their profile and potentially means better prospects for their club careers.

      The most embarrassing aspect of this whole thing is the way some USMNT fans act like we just won the world cup when the dual national of the day joins the pool. I’m especially thinking of Julian “fourth division” Green. Deep down it’s because they don’t think Americans can play so we need “Americans” raised abroad to help us.

      Reply
      • Slow, I’d tread lightly on putting the mentality of any dual national in the same box because you don’t know these players intimately enough to say why one chooses one nation over the other. I’m sure sure some have used that platform to improve a club future or a quick payday but in the case of the US plenty of our dual nationals have shown their deep allengiances for the flag by getting tattoos and demonstrating other ways of being and feeling truly American. Boyd, Brooks and J Jones are 3 that come to mind that exemplify my example.

    • Even when Rafa was in his prime we pretty much owned him. I think it shows that the Mexican back line must be in bad shape if they have been relying on him.

      Reply
  4. Who is better Guardado or Bradley? Tough one ahh? To me both are monsters, but of course I like Bradley better because he is ours, as in home grown, and not some marginal mercenary recruited by Klinsi.

    Reply
    • Guardado is a better player, him and Herrera are the two best midfielders in concacaf. Sadly I don’t think Bradley makes the Mexico 11

      Reply
      • I accept your very professional, eloquent and knowledgeable response. Can’t disagree, but I stick to my choice.

      • Herrera is horrible. He gets the ball and it is almost automatic that he looses it by going straight at a player or one of his bad side to side passes.Whatever he did last year he is terrible this year and you can’t explain it away anymore by saying he is tired. After one more horrible game last week he won’t even be on the bench tomorrow.

      • Agree with John. Dominating never. Has key passes and goals but in general these matches are dominated by Mexico and the U.S. gets them in counter attacks. He works better in a more defensive role, he had one good half against Mexico once with a new midfield lineup for Mexico and it gave Klinnsman the mistaken belief that he could act as a number 10 ,which he used all the way to the world cup. Without that match I think the U.S. would have done better by keeping him back more and using Dempsey a little more in his natural position instead of a semi-striker.

      • Bradley has a history of dominating the midfield against Mexico, including when they have both those players out there. Not saying that happens in Oct. And Guardado and Herrera play for “bigger clubs” than Bradley ever did, but the history of head-to-head match performances favors Bradley.

      • yeah I’m not sure about that. Bradley has scored a lot of goals against Mexico but I hardly remember him dominating their midfield with one or two exceptions. The game in 2009 in Columbus where he bagged a brace but Guardado was not present in that game. The friendly vs Mexico prior to the World Cup where Bradley was amazing in the first half and then once Herrera adjusted, Bradley disappeared and Guardado did not play since it was a non FIFA date friendly. I’m having a hard time agreeing with your statement since I can think of the 09 Qualifier at Azteca where Bradley did not dominate…nor did dominate during the 2011 Gold Cup final or the 2013 Qualifier at Azteca. He was okay in the 2013 Qualifier in Columbus but I’d hardly call his performance that night “dominating.”

      • JB, sorry but you just lost all credibility when you said Guardado and Herrera play at bigger clubs than Bradley ever has because that statement is absurdly funny and just wrong. Bradley played for AS Roma my friend. Porto and PSV are not in the same category as Roma so please do some research before you make a pathetic comment next time

      • Did you forget that Dos a Cero in Columbus in WCQ last cycle?? I was willing to give you the benefit if the doubt but now I see you really are trolling and being that you’re probably the only Mexico supporter that frequentes this site that’s commendable. Listen, even in the USMNT deepest of dark days we would still beat Mexico so with our form as a unit not being the best right now I can’t see any reason why we can’t get the job done

      • And how did Mexico do in the meaningful WC qualification games against the USMNT? They got 1 out of possible 6 points. And how did El Tri qualify for the WC? TV Azteca commentator put it best:

        “It is because of the USA that we are being placed in the playoff …BECAUSE OF THEM , NOT DUE TO YOU..NOT ANY OF YOU in the green shirts ….IT WAS THEM!!.NOT YOU!..THEY DID IT!!!!!NOT YOU! remember this forever….. KEEP THIS CLEARLY IN MIND FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIVES! You do NOTHING for the shirt, you do NOT put the effort, you have NOT placed us in the playoffs , you HAVE NOT placed us in the WORLD CUP ..YOU WOULD NOT HAVE KEPT US ALIVE….IT WAS ESTADOS UNIDOS, NOT YOU! NOT YOU AND YOUR ARROGANCE/CONCEIT…..NOT YOU AND YOUR INFAMY….NOT YOU AND YOUR MORONS/PUNKS….
        ….
        “IT IS A FAILURE…..and UNDESERVED -to go through to the playoff- WE HAD NO ARGUMENTS to earn the playoffs, THE USA, WITH SUBS, WITH MANY SUBS as the visiting team shows us once again what the USA is all about ….how to play the game with dignity, how to approach the sport..MExico is a horror, just terrible….A FAILURE….
        ……
        THE USA HAS SURPASSED US ..They are better than Mexico in SOCCER ….THEY EVEN HAVE THE LUXURY OF PLAYING THEIR SUBS and KEEPING US ALIVE.”

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