I was hoping the September callups were going to be on the younger side and the FMF (the squad was allegedly picked by Torrado and Te Kloese) came through.
Mexico called up 25 players for the upcoming friendlies:
Goalkeepers: Hugo Gonzalez (Necaxa), Gibran Lajud (Xolos), Guillermo Ochoa (Standard Liege)
Defenders: Jose Abella (Santos), Oswaldo Alanis (Real Oviedo), Edson Alvarez (Club America), Jesus Angulo (Santos Laguna), Gerardo Arteaga (Santos), Jesus Gallardo (Monterrey), Luis Rodriguez (Tigres), Carlos Salcedo (Eintracht Frankfurt), Erick Aguirre (Pachuca)
Midfielders: Roberto Alvarado (Cruz Azul), Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Jonathan Gonzalez (Monterrey), Erick Gutierrez (PSV), Victor Guzman (Pachuca), Orbelin Pineda (Chivas)
Forwards: Elias Hernandez (Cruz Azul), Diego Lainez (Club América), Hirving Lozano (PSV), Raul Jimenez (Wolves), Rodolfo Pizarro (Monterrey), Alan Pulido (Chivas), Angel Zaldivar (Chivas)
I wrote earlier this week that Mexico needs to keep an eye on 2022 already. The Qatar World Cup is still over 4 years away but right now is the time to find players that will grow into contributors later in the cycle. Mexico wont play a meaningful game until 2019 and do not even have a coach. The stakes have never been lower and the powers that be seem to agree.
The average age of Mexico’s World Cup squad was 28.7 years old. 9 of the 23 players were over the age of 30 with 5 being under 25 years old. A refresh was going to be needed and this first post-cup roster is a hell of a start. It features 4 teenagers (oddly enough, 2 of them will turn 20 when Mexico face Uruguay on September 7th) in the list of 25. The average age is 24 years old for the 25 man roster. 8 World Cup veterans are on the squad with many given some time off to rest or tend to their club careers. The mixture of veterans and newcomers should provide a good balance for this camp.
Uruguay is bringing a strong roster and a game against the US is always tough. This window will be a good test for these youngsters to get some experience with the senior team and maybe even show Tuca that playing young Mexicans isn’t the worst thing to do as a coach in Mexico.