Mexico announces call up list for final training camp before U20 CONCACAF Championship

Mexico has announced the list for the last training camp before the U20 CONCACAF Championship that will be played in Honduras from June 18th to July 3rd. The tournament is of prime importance, as it not only gives the four tickets to the 2023 U20 World Cup but the two tickets to the 2024 Olympic Games as well. Mexico will play three friendlies during the camp. On June 7th they will play Atlante, and then on June 9th, and June 11th they will close out with two friendlies against El Salvador. All of the friendlies will be played in the Centro de Alto Rendimiento (CAR) in Mexico City.

The call up list made by Coach Luis Perez is the following:

Goalkeepers: Anthony Ramos (Real Sport Clube), Jose Eulogio (Pachuca), Emiliano Perez (Necaxa), Diego Reyes (Puebla)

Defenders: Jonathan Gomez (Real Sociedad), Antonio Leone (LAFC), Jesus Alcantar (Necaxa), Abraham Freyfeld (UNAM Pumas), Alfredo Gutierrez (Necaxa), Everardo Lopez (Toluca), Saul Zamora (Leon), Roman Torres (Necaxa)

Midfielders: Fidel Ambriz (Leon), Heriberto Jurado (Necaxa), Sebastian Perez Bouquet (Chivas), Bryan Gonzalez (Pachuca), Karel Campos (America), Isaias Violante (Toluca), Dagoberto Espinoza (America), Rafael Palma (Pachuca), Salvador Mariscal (Santos), Emilio Martinez (Puebla), Diego Gomez (Necaxa)

Forwards: Jesus Hernandez (Queretaro), Christian Torres (LAFC), Jonathan Perez (LA Galaxy), Esteban Lozana (America), Nathan Ordaz (LAFC)

The most notable call up is defender Jonathan Gomez, who was born in Texas and had played with the United States senior team in a friendly last December against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Gomez had also been called up for the Mexican National Team, and made his debut with the senior team in the last friendly played against Guatemala in April. Gomez had also been called up to training camps with the U18 Mexican National Team in 2020. Among other notable call ups are the first call ups to two standout players in the Clausura 2022, Necaxa’s Heriberto Jurado and Chivas’ Sebastian Perez Bouquet, who both earned starting spot with the team although Bouquet later lost his once interim coach Ricardo Cadena got the Chivas job.

The most notable absence must be Marcelo Flores, the best player from the U20 team. Apparently Arsenal didn’t release the player, as they wanted him to be with the team during the pre-season with their senior team, so Flores will instead be with Arsenal during the friendlies and Nations Leagues matches. Incredibly, CONCACAF will be having the tournament during the window that European teams will be doing their preseasons early because of the 2022 World Cup. Mexico is in Group F along with Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname. They will be making their debut against Suriname on June 23rd.