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With Diego Lainez but no Jonathan Gonzalez, Mexico announce U20 World Cup squad

Mexico will have most of the team that qualified in the 2018 CONCACAF championships.

By rhzunam80
Paraguay v Mexico Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Mexico has made official their list for the U20 World Cup with a team very similar to the one that qualified to the U20 World Cup although giving a lot of doubts to the fans who saw the team in action.

The most high profiled player, Diego Lainez of Real Betis, was called up to the tournament but it seems Monterrey got its wish as Jonathan Gonzalez wasn’t called up in what should be a huge hit to this squad. Also missing were players like America’s Carlos Vargas and Pumas’ Idekel Dominguez, which are surprising especially since the defense looked extremely weak in the U20 CONCACAF Championship and it wasn’t improved in the callups.

Mexico was drawn into Group B, which many people think will be the group of death. They open their World Cup against Italy, then play against Japan and close against Ecuador. It will be a tough tournament especially with the U20 Tournament they played in which they showed a worrisome level in certain areas of the field, especially defense. Mexico might have been really hurt by the refusal of several Mexican teams to release their players for the tournament. Although it’s not the first time this happens, it might be the one that hampers the most since the difficulty of this group didn’t allow much wiggle room for clubs to suddenly start getting “selfish”. It seems like the increase in playing time of some players might help this team from the level they had in the CONCACAF Championship yet it hasn’t really translated to all corners of the field.

Goalkeepers: Carlos Higuera (Tijuana), Luis Lopez (Dorados), Angel Alonzo (Necaxa)

Defenders: Gilberto Sepulveda (Chivas), Efrain Orona (Pachuca), Kevin Alvarez (Pachuca), Mario Trejo (Morelia), Oswaldo Leon (America), Arturo Cardenas (Queretaro)

Midfielders: Diego Lainez (Real Betis), Misael Dominguez (Cruz Azul), Francisco Figueroa (Pachuca), Roberto Meraz (Morelia), Jose Plascencia (Necaxa), Adrian Lozano (Santos), Diego Hernandez (Chivas), Carlos Gutierrez (Pumas), Alan Torres (Chivas)

Forwards: Jose Juan Macias (Leon), Roberto de la Rosa (Pachuca), Diego Lopez (Tijuana)

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