MEXICAN NATIONAL TEAM
Mexico roster to face the USMNT: why are only Liga MX players involved?
El Tri will take on the United States in a friendly in Phoenix in Diego Cocca’s third match in charge.
The Mexican National Team will play its third match under recently-appointed manager Diego Cocca on Wednesday April 19 and the Argentinian has revealed which players will be tasked with taking on the USMNT in a friendly encounter in Phoenix next week.
Why are only Liga MX players on the roster to play the USMNT?
As the game won’t take place in an official FIFA-approved international window, the Mexican roster will consist only of players who play in Liga MX, which the exception of Barcelona’s Julián Araújo, who has been given permission by his club to link up with the national team.
Of the 23 players selected, Club América, Guadalajara and Pachuca are the three clubs who will be most represented in the squad, with four players each.
Mexico roster to play the USMNT
Goalkeepers: Luis Ángel Malagón (América), José Antonio Rodríguez (Tijuana), Carlos Acevedo (Santos Laguna)
Defenders: Néstor Araujo (América), Israel Reyes (América), Julián Araujo (Barcelona), Gilberto Sepúlveda (Guadalajara), Kevin Álvarez (Pachuca), Jesús Gallardo (Monterrey), Víctor Guzmán (Monterrey)
Media: Jonathan Herrera (Atlas), Aldo Rocha (Atlas), Uriel Antuna (Cruz Azul), Carlos Rodríguez (Cruz Azul), Roberto Alvarado (Guadalajara), Fernando Beltrán (Guadalajara), Alexis Vega (Guadalajara), Luis Gerardo Chávez (Pachuca), Erick Sánchez (Pachuca), Omar Campos (Santos Laguna), Alan Cervantes (Santos Laguna).
Forwards: Henry Martin (América), Roberto de la Rosa (Pachuca)
Diego Lainez among most notable absentees
Of the players who could have been called up (i.e. who play in Liga MX) but haven’t been, the names which most stand out are those of Monterrey’s Luis Romo, who started Mexico’s last game at home to Jamaica in the CONCACAF Nations League, Marcel Ruiz of Toluca, who made his national debut in Cocca’s first match in charge away to Suriname and Tigres’ Diego Lainez, long considered one of Mexican soccer’s brightest prospects but who has struggled for form in recent times.
Veteran Monterrey defender Héctor Moreno, who has 132 caps and played at four World Cups, has also been left out, which raises questions over whether Cocca will choose to move forward without the 35-year-old.