Mexico select young squad for Trinidad and Tobago friendly

Mexico released their callup for their October 2 match against Trinidad and Tobago in Toluca. Gerardo Martino has decided to give continuity to the young players he has been working with in training camps and made a list of players in which all but three are eligible for the U-23 team that will represent Mexico in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifiers to be held in Guadalajara next year.

The friendly is going be played in preparation for the CONCACAF Nations League, meaning Mexico will play the tournament with this mostly U-22 squad and use it as preparation for the Olympic qualifiers. This might be a risky thing, especially against a stronger experienced team like Panama if Mexico plans to make it to the Final to be held in June.

The squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Raul Gudiño (Chivas), Sebastian Jurado (Veracruz), Jose Hernandez (Atlas)

Defenders: Alan Mozo (Pumas), Adrian Mora (Toluca), Ismael Govea (Atlas), Gerardo Arteaga (Santos), Vladimir Loroña (Tijuana), Jesus Angulo (Atlas), Cristian Calderon (Necaxa), Johan Vasquez (Monterrey), Luis Romo (Queretaro)

Midfielders: Jonathan Gonzalez (Monterrey), Erick Aguirre (Pachuca) , Sebastian Cordova (America), Francisco Venegas (Tigres), Joaquin Esquivel (FC Juarez), Jesus Ricardo Angulo (Necaxa), Ian Jairo Torres (Atlas), Adrian Lozano (Santos), Ivan Rodriguez (Leon)

Forwards: Jose Juan Macias (Leon), Paolo Yrizar (Queretaro), Jesus Godinez (Leon)

As a single friendly, the list is a clear indication that Gerardo Martino is working with the youth. That said, it’s still unclear what this means for the U-23 team, and if Jaime Lozano will be working with Martino and and how much Martino will have to do with his team. If this is the team that plays the Nations League (which all signs point to) this would also mean that Lozano will have to be working with Martino, as he would not be able to work with the U-23 team during the October FIFA break.

The biggest question is if this is the start of working towards the U-23 team, were are the U-23 eligible players that play with the senior team. While it’s understandable why Euro-based players like Edson Alvarez and Diego Lainez might not be called in (as well as LA Galaxy’s Uriel Antuna), the fact that Carlos Rodriguez, Alexis Vega and Roberto Alvarado (all Liga MX-based) weren’t called up makes some wonder when are they going to be integrated into the team. The bigger question might be if they are even going to be part of this team or are they not going to be taken into account. If so, why?