Mexico names their squad for the Olympic Games

Mexico has named the football squad that will take part in the Olympic games in Tokyo. Coach Jaime Lozano took advantage of the expanded roster to make his call up which was the following:

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

Defenders: Luis Romo (Cruz Azul), Cesar Montes (Monterrey), Johan Vasquez (Pumas), Jesus Alberto Angulo (Atlas), Jorge Sanchez (America), Vladimir Loroña (Tijuana), Adrian Mora (FC Juarez)

Midfielders: Diego Lainez (Betis), Sebastian Cordova (America), Carlos Rodriguez (Monterrey),Roberto Alvarado (Cruz Azul), Uriel Antuna (Chivas), Joaquin Esquivel (FC Juarez), Fernando Beltran (Chivas), Erick Aguirre (Pachuca), Jesus Ricardo Angulo (Chivas)

Forwards: Henry Martin (America), Alexis Vega (Chivas), Eduardo Aguirre (Santos)

With an expanded roster there were no surprises to the final call up list. The notable omissions are Jose Juan Macias and Gerardo Arteaga, but it was known that both would miss the tournament, one because of injury the other because of personal reasons. Also missing is Edson Alvarez, who is playing in the Gold Cup after he wasn’t given permission by his European club in Ajax (because the Gold Cup is a continental championship by FIFA rules, Ajax didn’t have to give permission for him to be called up). The most surprising is the call up of Adrian Mora, who barely had any playing time last season in Monterrey and wasn’t called up for the Marbella tour. It also brings the fact of how pointless it was using that tour as a testing ground if you end up calling a player that didn’t take part in that tour or the U23 CONCACAF Championship to close out the list.

Mexico is in Group A, a very tough group and will start their tournament against France on July 22nd. They will then face hosts Japan on July 25th and close out against South Africa on July 28th. Although Mexico will have a tough time, they received a boost after France had to drop their Ligue 1 players because of not having permission, meaning they will send a team that isn’t a strong as expected although they will still be a formidable foe for Mexico.