The news that Tata Martino had been reluctant to accept finally became official today. The Mexican National team announced that Jesus “Tecatito” Corona has been ruled out of the World Cup. His fractured tibia issue is naturally not healed enough to allow him to play in the tournament. In spite of the fact that the team may miss him in the tournament the decision was potentially best for his career moving forward.
Not all of the injury front news though were bad at least from Martino’s perspective. Raul Jimenez is already with the team, and he seems to be trending upward. That can spell disaster for Santi Gimenez. Head coach Tata Martino made it clear that if Raul can go it’s going to be Santi who’s going to be left out of the World Cup roster. A decision that is certainly not sitting well with many of the Mexican fans.
What This Injury News Means For The Rest Of The Roster Makeup
Tata Martino virtually confirmed today as we mentioned that Santi Gimenez would be the player that he’d leave off the roster to make way for Raul. That’s something that we’ve been saying for months now. The man that may have just gotten a major boost to his chances of making the squad with the Corona news is Diego Lainez. He’s had a lot of trouble finding minutes in his new club Sporting Braga. However, he’s still one of the most talented wing players that Martino has to fall back on. With the official loss of Corona, Lainez’s chances of making the team just got a boost!
We said yesterday that some of the players that are on the bubble are not even going to get that last chance to make an impact on Martino since they won’t be with the team for these tune up games. Erick Gutierrez is having a stellar season at PSV, but he could find himself on the outside looking in. This is because he’s never been a regular on Martino’s teams, and his spot may be taken by Edson Alvarez. He’s fighting with Romo, Orbelin, and Erick Sanchez from Pachuca for a roster spot. The Santi Gimenez snub is certainly the one making most of the headlines today, but don’t sleep on Gutierrez’s situation.
Mexico’s Exploring The Possibility of Dropping Raul Jimenez Mid-Tournament
Coming back to the situation with Raul Jimenez, Mexico are certainly all-in to try and make sure that he’s ready for the tournament. They are also trying to cover their backs in case he isn’t healthy enough to play. Rumors indicate that people close to the Mexican national team are trying to figure out what they could do if mid-tournament they find out that Raul Jimenez can’t go. According to the rules the final list of 26 players can actually be altered up to a day before the first game of the tournament.
The official handbook that FIFA put out with the rules that will govern the tournament isn’t exactly clear on what teams will be able to do if they have a major injury on the squad. That’s why members of the Mexican delegation are scrambling to try and figure out what they could do if they find out in the middle of the tournament that Raul Jimenez isn’t fit enough to play.
For the time being it’s been reported by multiple sources that Raul will not see the field in this first tune up game against Iraq. The trend could continue into the final tune up game against Sweden. Considering the fact that his play has never been the same since David Luiz literally broke his skull it’s hard to see what Martino really hopes to get out of him during the World Cup.
