Mexican National Team head coach Tata Martino announced his 29-player preliminary roster for this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup on Tuesday.
Carlos Vela, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, and Jesus Corona all have been left out due to respective reasons. Vela currently has 12 goals and six assists for LAFC in MLS play, but assured to Martino that his club and family are his priority.
Incondicionales, it's roster reveal time!! ⏰📋🇲🇽
Meet the squad called up by Head Coach Tata Martino ahead of our #MEXTOUR!! 🔜✈⚽️#PasiónyOrgullo | #FMFporNuestroFútbol pic.twitter.com/kWQgMSlzqQ
— Mexican National Team (@miseleccionmxEN) May 14, 2019
“I spoke with Carlos Vela over the phone last week and he assured me that at this time his club and his family and his priority, that’s why he stepped aside,” Martino said at a press conference.
Hernandez has been left out due to the expected birth of his first child, which is scheduled to take place during the tournament. Corona has dealt with injuries with FC Porto, forcing Martino to leave him out of the roster.
Headlining the roster is PSV’s Hirving Lozano, Wolverhampton’s Raul Jimenez, Real Sociedad’s Hector Moreno, and L.A. Galaxy’s Jonathan dos Santos. Experienced veterans Marco Fabian, Andres Guardado, and Guillermo Ochoa also got the call-in.
The roster will be trimmed to 23 players in the first week of June, ahead of El Tri’s June 15th Gold Cup opener against Martinique. They also take on Canada on June 19th and Cuba on June 23rd in group stage play.
Prior to that, Mexico will face Venezuela and Ecuador on June 5th and 9th respectively in a pair of friendlies.
Here’s the full 29-player roster:
Goalkeepers: Guillermo Ochoa (Standard Liege), Jonathan Orozco (Santos Laguna), Raul Gudino (Chivas), Hugo Gonzalez (Necaxa)
Defenders: Hector Moreno (Real Sociedad), Diego Reyes (Leganes), Nestor Araujo (Celta de Vigo), Jorge Sanchez (America), Jesus Gallardo (Monterrey), Miguel Layun (Monterrey), Cesar Montes (Monterrey), Carlos Salcedo (Tigres), Luis Rodriguez (Tigres), Fernando Navarro (Leon)
Midfielders: Andres Guardado (Real Betis), Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Erick Gutierrez (PSV Eindhoven), Carlos Rodriguez (Monterrey), Luis Montes (Leon), Edson Alvarez (America), Ivan Rodriguez (Leon), Orbelin Pineda (Cruz Azul)
Forwards: Hirving Lozano (PSV Eindhoven), Raul Jimenez (Wolves), Alexis Vega (Chivas), Roberto Alvarado (Cruz Azul), Rodolfo Pizarro (Monterrey), Uriel Antuna (LA Galaxy), Marco Fabian (Philadelphia Union)
this is along the lines i have hinted for the USA. a smart team is not obsessed with winning these things but looks at the big picture of learning about the roster and the pool.
….Kinda scary to know Tata is not worried about Vela, one of the best players in MLS, being on the team…..that’s like not taking your heavy ordinance to war AND STILL EXPECTING TO WIN!!!! So the question is what or who does he have in his arsenal that is giving him all this confidence ??????
If Lozano is available in time and Jimenez has 13 EPL goals this season that should be plenty of firepower. Vela has always had an and off again relationship with El Tri. He was left off in March and made some statements to the effect he was never good enough for the Mexican fans and media so he wasn’t sure he was interested any more.
Interestingly, I would say that our foreign based players play at higher level clubs than Mexico’s…. it really is the domestic league that is the difference.
First of all maybe you don’t follow soccer in this country, but Mexico has won Champions League a few years in a row. There have been some close calls for MLS winning , but nope.
Second, it really doesn’t matter where they play, if that was what determined the outcome the US would have made World Cup pretty easily. So was it a team effort in the failure? I say yes….maybe you only want to blame it on non Euro players ?
What? I was just pointing out an interesting fact… and I didn’t even mention the World Cup. I guess this is why I post less and less around here.
the thing is that the standard snob response to the idea MLS is not doing well is spend more money on players and let in more foreigners even as that dynamic seems to be undermining the domestic player. i agree that right now MLS is part of the problem but IMO it has a lot to do with roster and cap rules tilting towards buying foreign talent. there is less lineup and roster space for American players, young YNT talent is routinely benched, and we are becoming less focal in our own league. the product is improved but with teams fielding 8 or so foreign players in a lineup, that becomes slim pickings for a national team. OK, which Dynamo players are even worth having? The good ones are obligated to other countries. So it’s like your choice of Joe Willis, Memo, Beasley in his walker.
I didn’t even notice that Jonathan Gonzalez was not on it! Hahahahah! ?