Mexico announces squad for U24 National Team friendly tour

Coach Jaime Lozano has announced the squad for the U24 friendlies in Marbella, Spain. While many expected this to be in preparation for the Summer Olympic games and it still is somewhat, the call ups looks to be a final test for players to see if they will make the final squad, as a number of players will not go with this team as they will be playing with the senior team in their games against Iceland and in the CONCACAF Nations League.

The call up list is the following:

Goalkeepers: Sebastian Jurado (Cruz Azul), Luis Malagon (Necaxa)

Defenders: Johan Vasquez (Pumas), Gilberto Sepulveda (Chivas), Kevin Alvarez (Pachuca), Victor Guzman (Tijuana), Alan Mozo (Pumas), Alejandro Mayorga (Chivas), Jesus Alberto Angulo (Atlas), Vladimir Loroña (Tijuana),

Midfielders: Erick Aguirre (Pachuca), Jesus Ricardo Angulo (Chivas), Erik Lira (Pumas), Alan Cervantes (Santos), Fernando Beltran (Chivas), Joaquin Esquivel (Juarez), Alejandro Zendejas (Necaxa), Erick Sanchez (Pachuca), Jairo Torres (Atlas)

Forwards: Jose Juan Macias (Chivas), Eduardo Aguirre (Santos), Alexis Vega (Chivas), Marcel Ruiz (Tijuana)

Among the notable call ups is the return of Luis Malagon to the national team, and he will probably see some action. Malagon got injured in the CONCACAF Championship game against the United States, and hasn’t played since either for the national team or his club Necaxa. Among the notable call ups is the return of Santos forward Eduardo Aguirre, who is one of the hottest scorers in Liga MX. There is also the return of several players that just missed out on the CONCACAF Championships like Fernando Beltran, Erik Lira, Kevin Alvarez, and Marcel Ruiz.

Off the big omissions, the biggest is probably Santiago Muñoz, who was able to make the CONCACAF Championship but he had a limited participation and has just been dropped by Lozano. Also missing is Santiago Gimenez of Cruz Azul, a player that many thought would have been able to make the CONCACAF Championship.

Mexico will open their European tour with a game on June 5th against Romania. They will then play against Saudi Arabia on June 8th before closing their tour with a game against Australia on June 12th. All of the games will be played in Marbella Spain.