Why was Alejandro Zendejas left out of the Mexico squad?

Mexico coach Gerardo Martino announced his squad for next week’s friendly against Paraguay in the United States, but there was no place in the list for Club América midfielder, Alejandro Zendejas - a surprise omission considering the good form he has shown at the start of the Liga MX 2022 Apertura.

It let many wondering why he had not been called up. The reason for his omission, according to ESPN, is that while Zendejas was born in Mexico, his family emigrated to the United States when he was still young. He began his career as a professional soccer player with FC Dallas’ youth team while still a teenager.

Due to his performances out on the field, he was called up by the United States, and played at Under-15 and Under-17 level, and was part of the US squad at the U17 World Cup in 2019.

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According to a source at the Mexican Football Federation consulted by AS Mexico, the reason why Zendejas cannot be called by Mexico is down to a verbal agreement relating to the time he spent with the US youth teams. It states that if a player is already registered with one Federation, he cannot be called by another until he personally gives his consent to request a change.

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In Alejandro Zendejas’ case, he is still registered with US Soccer, after representing the US at youth team level, although he had already expressed on one occasion (when he played with Chivas) that his dream was to eventually play for Mexico. But to date, has not instigated the process to make that possible.

Zendejas’ numbers

So far in the Apertura 2022, Zendejas has been a starter in all of América’s games and has scored three goals - with Rayados, Pumas and Pachuca being his victims. He has played a total of 757 minutes and received two bookings.