They'll play it because it's been scheduled and tickets have been sold but Wednesday's Mexico-China game in Seattle won't be played under the best of circumstances.
When the match was first scheduled, the match was likely intended to help Hugo Sanchez continue identifying and trying domestic players. Since it's not a FIFA date, European-based players likely were never going to participate in the game.
As it turned out, Sanchez is gone and the schedule is even more congested than previously thought. Chivas and America each have Libertadores matches so the bulk of their players were not called in. Worse, the players who were called in may or may not fit under the new coach's scheme.
The roster reflects the sorts of restrictions and circumstances this game saw. Interim coach Jesus "Chucho" Ramirez did what many coaches do and called on players he is familiar with. Ramirez selected eight players who were on his Under-20 World Cup team from last year and of those five were on the title-winning 2005 U-17 side. Also, five total players - including two from the U-20 side - received their first call to the national team.
There is some experience on the roster. Oswaldo Sanchez, Luis Perez and Zinha all have World Cup experience. But it pretty much ends there as those are the only three players who have more than 10 caps.
While this game will be played and while people will fork out between $20-50 to see Mexico, the match might ultimately be little more than an exercise in futility.
Here's the breakdown of players and their respective caps:
First call up: Christian Bermudez, Joel Gonzalez, Sergio Ponce, Alejandro Castro, Leobardo Lopez.
Rest: Pablo Barrera - 1, Omar Trujillo - 1, Gerardo Rodriguez - 1, Adrian Aldrete - 1, Jorge Hernandez - 2, Patricio Araujo - 2, Omar Esparza - 3, Cesar Villaluz - 4, Sergio Santana - 6, Jesus Corona - 7, Juan Carlos Cacho - 8, Fausto Pinto - 8, Zinha - 38, Luis Perez - 54, Oswaldo Sanchez - 86.
8 comments:
No Edgar Castillo?
I would have thought as one of the few bright spots from the failed Olympic qualifying team that Castillo would have earned another look from the senior team.
Be kinda sad and ironic - and a bit funny - if after getting cap-tied to Mexico at the U23 level that he wasn't much of a factor for their senior team down the line.
Plenty of time before it's definite that that's the case, though.
nah, the game wasn't scheduled so ego could test players.
la sele is big business in the usa, last i heard... 40,000 tickets have already been sold for this game... no way a game against china would sell even 1,000 tickets in a mexican venue...
these are american dollars, not mexican pesos... negocio redondo... the game will undoubtedly fatten the wallets of the mexican federation and sum, the american firm that schedules these games.
that's probably why a game in april was scheduled to begin with... to make some lucky dudes some cold, hard cash.
saludos y'all, d
i also hear the chinese are sending their 'c' team... not even the 'b' team...
saludos, d
you also forgot to mention the controversy that Chucho started by calling up Alejandro Castro who plays in Primera A in Cruz Azul Hidalgo. People are upset since according to them the NT is not a laboratory for "experimentation".
I believe Edgar Castillo is still recovering from an injury.
As a USMNT fan, this sounds like an interesting match to watch.
Araujo? Santana? Esparza?
I thought no Chivas were called?
Did I miss read your call up list?
No, they called up three of them, those three. But only those three. Santana has started every Libertadores match but Esparza has played twice and Pato just once and all three appearances have been as subs.
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