Mexico's CONCACAF 2021 Gold Cup squad: key absentees
Defending champions Mexico beat Guatamala, El Salvador, Honduras and Canada on their way to tonight's 2021 Gold Cup final against the United States.
Despite getting off to a slow start, Tata Martino's Mexico were soon into their rhythm and marched relatively unchallenged on their way to tonight's 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup final where the United States await them once again.
El Tri soon got over the disappointment of their goalless draw against Trinidad and Tobago in their opening match, following it up with wins against Guatamala, El Salvador, Honduras and one of the big favourites Canada.
Mexico, the defending champions take on the United States at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in a repeat of the 2019 final which they won by the minimum courtesy of Jonathan dos Santos' late winner. Tonight's finalists have 14 titles between them - Mexico, with a record eight Gold Cup titles.
There were some key omissions in Martino's squad list for the tournament, such as captain Andrés Guardado and Raúl Jiménez, who both missed out through injury.
Mexico 2021 Gold Cup squad
Goalkeepers: Rodolfo Cota (Leon), Jonathan Orozco (Tijuana), Alfredo Talavera (Pumas)
Defenders: Kevin Alvarez (Pachuca), Nestor Araujo (Celta Vigo), Jesus Gallardo (Monterrey), Hector Moreno (Monterrey), Luis Rodriguez (Tigres), Osvaldo Rodriguez (Leon), Carlos Salcedo (Tigres), Gilberto Sepulveda (Chivas de Guadalajara)
Midfielders: Edson Alvarez (Ajax), Efrain Alvarez (LA Galaxy), Alan Cervantes (Santos Laguna), Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Erick Gutierrez (PSV), Hector Herrera (Atletico Madrid), Orbelin Pineda (Cruz Azul), Erick Sanchez (Pachuca)
Forwards: Jesus Corona (Porto), Rogelio Funes Mori (Monterrey), Hirving Lozano* (Napoli), Rodolfo Pizarro (Inter Miami), Alan Pulido (Sporting Kansas City)
*Withdrew injured and replaced by Rodolfo Pizarro.
Key absences for 'El Tri'
When Tata Martino announced his squad back in June, a few eyebrows were raised when the Carlos Vela's name wasn't featured in the Argentine coach's list.
Vela has yet to officially retire from international football and dodged questions about his chances of being at the Gold Cup, claiming that his focus was just on "getting back to his best level".
Hirving Lozano suffered a nasty head injury in the opening game against Trinidad and Tobago which ruled him out the rest of the tournament.
Andrés Guardado (Betis) and Raul Jiménez (Wolves) have been recovering from long term injuries and we're left out of the squad to be given added recovery time. Javier 'Chicharito' Hernández is another high profile absentee with the former Real Madrid and Manchester United player out of form.