Mexico name U-23 coach and squad for friendlies against Colombia

Mexico have named Ricardo Cadena as the new U-23 coach for their National Team to take the place of Gerardo Espinosa. Espinosa resigned to take over the coaching job at Puebla only to discover that because of rules in Mexican football, a NT coach can’t take a club job that same season. Cadena will start his tenure with two matches announced against Colombia to take place in Mexico on September 9 and 12 as they prepare for their participation in the 2023 Pan American Games.

The first squad that Cadenda will coach is the following:

Goalkeepers: Fernando Tapia (Queretaro), Raul Rangel (Chivas).

Defenders: Victor Guzman (Monterrey), Rodrigo Huescas (Cruz Azul), Mauricio Isaias (Toluca), Pablo Monroy (UNAM Pumas), Jose Castillo (Pachuca), Diego Campillo (FC Juarez), Ramon Juarez (America), Rafael Fernandez (Tijuana).

Midfielders: Marcel Ruiz (Toluca), Erik Lira (Cruz Azul), Raymundo Fulgencio (Tigres), Jairo Torres (Chicago Fire), Fidel Ambriz (Leon), Jeremy Marquez (Atlas), Andres Montaño (Mazatlan), Diego Medina (Santos), Juan Brigido (Chivas).

Forwards: Roberto de la Rosa (Pahuca), Ettson Ayon (Queretaro), Bryan Gonzalez (Pachuca)

The squad seems to be more solid than the one that went to the 2023 Central American and Caribbean games under Gerardo Espinosa, where they won the Gold medal after defeating Costa Rica in the final by a score of 2-1. The main additions are players like Marcel Ruiz, Mauricio Isaias and Erik Lira, who were rumored to be called up for the Senior National team.

Mexico will be playing against Colombia’s U-23 squad in a friendly September 9th in Estadio Tlahuicole, Tlaxcala. They will later go to Mexico City to play against Colombia again, but this time in the Centro de Alto Rendimiento (CAR) in Mexico City. Both are preparation matches for the 2023 Pan American Games. Said competition will be played in Chile and have Mexico in Group A along with the hosts, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay. The tournament will take place from October 20th to November 5th, although the exact football dates are not yet set.