Mexico announce call up list for U17 World Cup

Coach Marco Antonio “Chima” Ruiz announced on Monday the 21 player squad that will participate in the U17 World Cup. The biggest surprise of the call up was that Teun Wilke, the only player from the previous training camp who plays in Europe, didn’t make the cut and will miss out on the U17 World Cup unless a players gets injured and needs to be replaced. LA Galaxy’s Efrain Alvarez made the list, along with other standouts like Eugenio Pizzuto, Jesus Gomez and Israel Luna.

The call up list is the following:

Goalkeepers: Eduardo Garcia (Chivas), Arturo Delgado (Tigres), Gerardo Magaña (Morelia)

Defenders: Jesus Gomez (Atlas), Gabriel Martinez (Chivas), Victor Guzman (Tijuana), Rafael Martinez (Atlas), Abraham Flores (Tijuana), Emilio Lara (America), Jose Ruiz (Chivas)

Midfielders: Eugenio Pizzuto (Pachuca), Gustavo Martinez (Atlas), Bruce El-Mesmari (Pachuca), Edgar Martinez (Monterrey), Bryan Gonzalez (Pachuca), Joel Gomez (Queretaro)

Forwards: Efrain Alvarez (LA Galaxy), Israel Luna (Pachuca), Santiago Muñoz (Santos), Luis Puente (Chivas), Ali Avila (Monterrey)

Besides the surprise of Wilke, it was also strange how Arsenal’s Marcelo Flores never got a good look in a U17 camp even when he’s just been promoted to Arsenal’s U18 team. In the press conference announcing the squad, Coach Ruiz said Mexico is expecting to finish in the top four, something last done in 2015 when Mexico finished in fourth place. In the last U17 World Cup while Mexico had a highly praised squad that included players like Diego Lainez, Roberto de la Rosa and Jairo Torres. That team was widely considered a failure for not winning a single game and crashing out in the Round of 16. Mexico was drawn in Group F along with Italy, Paraguay and the Solomon Islands. Mexico will make their debut in the World Cup on October 28th against Paraguay. Mexico will be flying out tomorrow to Buenos Aires, Argentina where they will have their last camp and tour of games before the World Cup.