The Mexican national team finally released their 26-man roster for the World Cup in Qatar today. Mexico was one of the last countries to announce their final list. The players on the list have an average age of over 28 years old. This makes the Mexican team the second-oldest squad that will be heading to the tournament. That seems odd for many reasons primarily because Mexico placed third in the last Olympics. Most teams that do well in the youth levels want to promote their young players to the senior team.
While there are some players from that Bronze medal team on the squad Diego Lainez was left off the 26-man roster. Another player that could’ve injected some youth into the squad, Santiago Gimenez was also scrapped from the list. Will Mexico miss these two guys in Qatar? The short answer is yes, and here are a couple of reasons why!
It’s Unrealistic To Expect Raul Jimenez To Be In Top Form
Raul Jimenez is expected to see some action in the game against Sweden which will be Mexico’s final tune up game heading into the World Cup. Essentially this could be a make or break moment for him, and at this point it would be wise to literally throw Raul into the deep end and see if he can swim. If he can’t swim then Santi Gimenez would be the man to take his place.
Even if he can go it’s hard to picture him starting for the team at the number 9 spot. This is where we would say that the team is definitely going to miss Santi. Gimenez has certainly proven that he can come off the bench and provide a spark for his team. He’s literally been doing that at Feyenoord all season. We don’t necessarily see Funes Mori, Henry Martin or even Raul in that super sub role. That’s where Santi’s absence could end up hurting the team.
Alvarado Can’t Provide That Change of Pace Lainez Has
Most of the Mexican media showed that they are just click bait news with the Diego Lainez situation. When he was slated to make the squad and head to Qatar critics sprung up claiming that he had not done enough at club level to deserve a spot on the team. Now that he’s on the outside looking in there’s an uproar over the fact that Alvarado got in over him.
Alvarado is a decent player, but he’s not necessarily someone who can provide a spark for the team off the bench, and he’s not talented enough to start. Oddly enough Martino is leaving out two players that have shown that they are comfortable coming off the bench, and can provide a spark for the team, in favor of guys that are not in their best form coming into the tournament. For Mexico’s sake let’s hope that Martino doesn’t look back at his bench at a point in the tournament and regrets his decisions.
They Are Still Going To Travel With The Team
The Santi Gimenez situation seems pretty clear. Raul Jimenez is going to give it a go against Sweden to see if he’s going to be ready to play in the World Cup. If he trots out there and he or the team realize that he can’t go Santi will be amongst the 26 players on the active roster in Qatar for Mexico. Lainez’s situation is a little more complicated. Essentially he’ll travel with the team and have a World Cup winter vacation, unless something happens in that Sweden game again. It would have to be a major injury especially to a midfield player. That would see him get placed on the active roster heading into the tournament.
