Mexico announces large call up list for friendlies, CONCACAF Nations League matches.

Mexico has announced a long list of 38 players for the upcoming friendlies and the first games of the CONCACAF Nations League this summer. Coach Gerardo Martino has called up a numerous list that is a mixture of young players and veterans as they continue the preparations for the World Cup. Although they had previously said that Mexico would play the official Nations League matches with an alternate squad, so far the list of players is for all activity, although there might be players who are given rest after the first three friendlies. Mexico will first play against Nigeria on May 28th in Arlington, Texas. They will then travel to Glendale, Arizona to play against Uruguay on June 2nd before ending their friendly tour against Ecuador on June 5th in Chicago, Illinois. A week later, Mexico will play their two official Nations League matches. They will return to Mexico for what all signs points to be the final match of the National Team in Mexican territory in 2022, when they face Suriname in Torreon, Coahuila on June 11th . They will then end their summer matches with an away match against Jamaica on June 14th in Kingston.

The call up list was as follows:

Goalkeepers: Guillermo Ochoa (America), Alfredo Talavera (UNAM Pumas), Carlos Acevedo (Santos), Rodolfo Cota (Leon)

Defenders: Johan Vasquez (Genoa), Nestor Araujo (Celta de Vigo), Gerardo Arteaga (KRC Genk), Cesar Montes (Monterrey), Jorge Sanchez (America), Julian Araujo (LA Galaxy), Kevin Alvarez (Pachuca), Jesus Alberto Angulo (Tigres), Hector Moreno (Monterrey), Israel Reyes (Puebla), Jesus Gallardo (Monterrey), Julio Cesar Dominguez (Cruz Azul), Erick Sanchez (Monterrey)

Midfielders: Hector Herrera (Atletico Madrid), Edson Alvarez (Ajax), Andres Guardado (Betis), Erick Gutierrez (PSV Eindhoven), Diego Lainez (Betis), Orbelin Pineda (Celta de Vigo), Marcelo Flores (Arsenal), Uriel Antuna (Cruz Azul), Sebastian Cordova (America), Roberto Alvarado (Chivas), Luis Romo (Monterrey), Erick Sanchez (Pachuca), Fernando Beltran (Chivas), Rodolfo Pizarro (Monterrey), Luis Chavez (Pachuca), Erik Lira (Cruz Azul)

Forwards: Raul Jimenez (Wolverhampton), Jesus Corona (Sevilla), Alexis Vega (Chivas), Santiago Gimenez (Cruz Azul), Henry Martin (America)

The most notable absence is attacker Hirving Lozano, who will be missing the matches as he will be getting an operation once Serie A ends because of an injury he had in the World Cup qualifier against Panama. There were various protests from fans about players who weren’t called up and had been doing well in Mexico, like Pachuca’s Victor Guzman or Tigres’ Juan Pablo Vigon, but the reality is that they haven’t been called up by Martino before and are probably not being considered for the team.

Of the players who were called up, the most notable is youngster Marcelo Flores who just this week announced that he was choosing to represent Mexico and trying to get a World Cup place. He opted not to go with the Canadian National Team, who were interested in calling him up as he was born just outside of Toronto. Flores is a key young player which is good news, but there are strong rumors that he will not be able to play the 2022 U20 CONCACAF Championship since his Premier League club Arsenal will not loan him so he can do the whole preseason with his club. Also surprising that various players who had struggled during the season still managed to get a call up, like Monterrey’s Jesus Gallardo, Luis Romo, and Rodolfo Pizarro as well as Tigres’ Sebastian Cordova and Cruz Azul’s Julio Cesar Dominguez. It seems that these is mostly the list of players who will take part in the 2022 World Cup outside of the various injured players that are out and Coach Martino is now set to start the real preparation for Qatar.