Number designations came down today for the Mexican National team. We’re looking at some of the usuals like Ochoa, and his lucky #13. Hector Moreno took his usual number 15, and Guardado will be sporting number 18 like he has his entire career with the national team. Hector Herrera has decided to take his regular number 16 jersey as well, and Chucky Lozano who maybe could feature a more prominent number on the back of his jersey has decided to stick with 22. One of the biggest surprises has to be the fact that Alexis Vega was given the chance to wear the number 10 jersey for Mexico in the World Cup. Does this mean that he’s going to be called upon to take a starring role with the team?
Alexis Is Going To Start & Will Be Asked To Do Quite A Lot
The fact that Alexis is getting the chance to wear number 10 over the likes of someone like Orbelin Pineda for example does indicate that he’s going to be playing a more prominent role in the squad. This is certainly something that we knew ahead of time, but with the numbers being revealed today it does confirm where each of these players is in the hierarchy that head coach Tata Martino has instituted heading into the tournament. Vega is going to be asked to play on one of the wings in Tata Martino’s 4-3-3 formation. It’s highly possible that he’ll constantly switch sides with Chucky Lozano, so we’re not going to venture into saying whether he’ll play on the right or the left, he’ll play both sides.
One of the things that Mexico is counting on is for Alexis to have a more sacrificial role in a sense. What we mean by that is that he has to get back on defense, he’s going to start his runs closer to the midfield when compared to Lozano. The distance that he’s going to be asked to cover throughout the game is going to be greater than what we see Chucky cover. He can go all out for 60 minutes, and then let his former teammate Uriel Antuna take over and provide that second half spark that helped the Olympic squad so much. In short, a lot of Mexico’s hopes are resting on number 10 Alexis Vega.
He could surprise some teams with his talent in a way that Chucky won’t just because other teams expect Chucky Lozano, but may not know what’s coming when they see Alexis Vega. There’s an argument to be made that Vega is the most talented player on Mexico’s roster. Tata Martino, and the fans are hoping he shows that in the World Cup!
Is There Anything That We Can Read Into Funes Mori Taking Number 11?
We don’t have a crystal ball out here, or are that much into numerology to try and predict what will happen in the World Cup based on the numbers that certain players are going to be wearing. However, as was the case with Vega we do get the sense that certain guys will have more prominent roles within the team based on the numbers that they were assigned. Funes Mori is going to be one of those players. Simply put, don’t be surprised if Funes Mori is the starting center forward for Mexico against Poland. Fans are going to go nuts, particularly Club America fans who want Henry Martin or Raul Jimenez to start. Jimenez is not going to be 100% throughout the tournament regardless of what the Mexican national team front office wants to say. Henry is heading into the tournament as the third option at striker. A lot of Mexico’s hopes are going to have to be placed on “El Mellizo” whether fans like it or not!
