Coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino revealed the preliminary list of 31 players of the Mexican National Team that will travel to Girona, Spain for the last stage of concentration, where they will play friendly matches against Iraq and Sweden, to finish polishing details ahead of their debut in the Qatar 2022 World Cup on November 21 against Poland. As expected, neither Javier “Chicharito” Hernández of the Los Angeles Galaxy nor Carlos Vela of Los Angeles FC of the MLS are included in this call-up.
Tecatito Corona and Raúl Jiménez, still with hope
Highlights of Chicharito’s best goals
The facilities of the Mexican Soccer Federation in Toluca were dressed up to make the announcement of the 31 who will pass to the final stage, a list in which Tata keeps the injured Tecatito Corona and Raúl Jiménez, whom he will hold out until the end.
Martino revealed two lists, that of the 31 and that of the youngsters from Liga MX who will serve as sparring partners for El Tri in Qatar to gain experience.
Then it was the turn of Jaime Ordiales, the Director of National Teams, who thanked everyone involved in the World Cup process to get to Qatar.
Chicharito confirms he’s coming back to play for the LA Galaxy next year
El Tri’s thanks to its fans
The FMF presented the ‘Mexico de mi vida‘ campaign with an emotional video in which Raúl Jiménez was seen crying in front of a chat with fans and then the President of the Mexican Federation Yon de Luisa took the floor and highlighted that a series of training sessions have been held with all the group rivals and thanked the players.
“I want to emphasize our gratitude to all the players who participated in these four years and a very special recognition and to the 26 who will be known on November 14,” De Luisa said.
The last cut will be made on November 14, to leave the final list with the 26 players required by FIFA for the World Cup and two days later will be the last preparation game against Sweden.
Tata’s 31 chosen for El Tri’s last training camp
There are no surprises, but among the five eliminated, Tata will have to leave out a center forward and everything points to it being Santiago Giménez, if Jiménez recovers.
Goalkeepers
Guillermo Ochoa, Alfredo Talavera, Rodolfo Cota.
Defenders
Jorge Sánchez, Kevin Álvarez, Jesús Alberto Angulo, Néstor Araujo, Héctor Moreno, César Montes, Johan Vásquez, Jesús Gallardo and Gerardo Arteaga.
Midfielders
Edson Álvarez, Héctor Herrera, Andrés Guardado, Erick Gutiérrez, Luis Chávez, Erick Sánchez, Luis Romo, Carlos Rodríguez, Diego Lainez, Orbelín Pineda, Roberto Alvarado and Uriel Antuna.
Forwards
Jesús Manuel Corona, Hirving Lozano, Raúl Jiménez, Alexis Vega, Rogelio Funes Mori, Henry Martín and Santiago Giménez.
El Tri sparrings in Qatar
Martino began his participation in the announcement event by revealing the names of the young players that the Mexican National Team will take to Qatar to help them prepare for the matches as sparring partners:
Karel Campos, Emilio Lara, Campos, Román Martínez, Víctor Guzmán, Isaías Violante, Sebastián Pérez, Fidel Ambriz, Heriberto jurado, Jesús Hernández, Mauricio Isaías, Emilio Martínez, Alfredo Gutiérrez, Ali Ávila, Jorge Ruvalcaba and Santiago Trigos.