Mexico make call up list for first U23 Camp of 2020

The same week Mexico found out their rivals in the U23 Concacaf Championship, the call up list for the first training camp of 2020 was made. Without players from last Liga MX finalists Monterrey and America, 23 players were called up for the camp that will take place in the Centro de Alto Rendimiento (CAR) from January 12th to the 15th.

With the draw of the Concacaf U23 championship (that will be held in Guadalajara in March) being done this week, Mexico started to work for the tournament with the first camp. Coach Jaime Lozano didn’t call players from Monterrey or America, as both teams played the final on December 29th which is also why they didn’t play this past weekend. Also missing were players from FC Juarez and Pumas, who will be playing against each other on Thursday, January 16th. The main addition to the camp was Chivas new signing Uriel Antuna, who gets his first camp under Lozano. Leading the surprising missing players were Chivas forward Alexis Vega. Some people might also be surprised that new Cruz Azul keeper Sebstian Jurado wasn’t called up, but he is coming from an injury and although he’s improving, he wasn’t available for the Cruz Azul’s tournament debut against Atlas.

The call up list is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Jose Hernandez (Atlas), Luis Malagon (Morelia)

Defenders: Gerardo Arteaga (Santos), Adrian Mora (Toluca), Brayton Vasquez (Atlas), Gilberto Sepulveda (Chivas), Aldo Cruz (Tijuana), Luis Hernandez (Toluca), Kevin Alvarez (Pachuca), Vladimir Loroña (Tijuana)

Midfielders: Marcel Ruiz (Queretaro), Ricardo Angulo (Chivas), Pablo Lopez (Pachuca), Jairo Torres (Atlas), Adrian Lozano (Santos), Francisco Venegas (Tigres), Eugenio Pizzuto (Pachuca), Alan Cervantes (Santos), Erick Aguirre (Pachuca)

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

With Mexico hosting the U23 Concacaf Championship and knowing Mexico needs to get one of the two tickets to the Olympic games, training camps like this will be more common. Unlike other camps, there will only be training and no closed door friendlies will be played.