Mexico announce squad for friendly against Paraguay

Mexico has announced the friendly call up list to face Paraguay on Wednesday, August 31 in Atlanta, Georgia. Coach Gerardo Martino has few surprises as he faces Paraguay with an all Liga MX squad as the game will be played outside FIFA dates. This will start the last leg of preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where Mexico is in Group C along with Argentina, Poland and Saudi Arabia.

The call up list was the following:

Goalkeepers: Carlos Acevedo (Santos), Luis Malagon (Necaxa)

Defenders: Israel Reyes (Puebla), Kevin Alvarez (Pachuca), Jesus Gallardo (Monterrey), Emilio Lara (America), Luis Reyes (Atlas), Cesar Montes (Monterrey), Jesus Angulo (Tigres)

Midfielders: Carlos Rodriguez (Cruz Azul), Sebastian Cordova (Tigres), Luis Romo (Monterrey), Erick Sanchez (Pachuca), Uriel Antuna (Cruz Azul), Roberto Alvarado (Chivas), Luis Chavez (Pachuca), Fernando Beltran (Chivas), Rodolfo Pizarro (Monterrey)

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

The big surprises of the call up list is the youngster Emilio Lara of America and the return to the National Team of Luis Reyes of Atlas for the first time under Martino’s tenure. Lara has been the sensation with America in the tournament but did have to come out of their last match against Queretaro with an injury, although he still hasn’t been ruled out of the match. Reyes was one of the biggest omissions as he has shined with Atlas, winning back-to-back Liga MX titles. Most of the remaining names are players that have been part of his tenure, meaning Martino won’t be making many changes to the team prior to the World Cup. This has many fans baffled as a couple of players who have been showing a poor level of play got called up, such as Luis Romo and especially Rodolfo Pizarro.

The other notable news is that players who have stood out in the 2022 Apertura weren’t called up, which probably means their opportunities to make the World Cup are over. Players like Alejandro Zendejas of America, Alfonso Gonzalez of Monterrey and Jordi Cortizo of Puebla were rumored to be making this squad and their failure to do so means that the chances to make the Final team are basically over. It seems with the World Cup less than 100 days away, experimenting time is over for Martino and the real preparation for the World Cup will start on Wednesday in the Mercedes Benz Stadium.