🇲🇽 Which El Tri players did enough to come back in WCQs?
Plus: A Liga MX final preview in a Mexico-centric edition of GC!
Good morning from the shadow of Q2 Stadium in Austin (OK, not really. It’s cloudy) where Mexico played its final match of 2021, drawing with Chile 2-2.
Today’s newsletter is Mexico-centric, with a look at which players from last night’s game made the strongest case for a World Cup qualification call-up plus a look at the first leg of the Liga MX final.
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Who did enough Wednesday (and in camp) to help El Tri in WCQ?
My general verdict from the 2-2 draw with Chile is that most Mexico players didn’t show enough quality for El Tri fans to come away thinking many of these guys will get into Mexico’s roster for games against Jamaica, Costa Rica and Panama over established regulars - even those who disappointed in a pair of November defeats.
That said, there were some good individual performances from young players who you can expect to see in future call-ups.
It’s worth remembering that no one plays themselves into the top squad in 90 minutes. “It’s not just this game that can bring a player to the call-ups regularly, there’s also their showings at clubs,” Mexico manager Tata Martino said after the match. “There are almost two months until the next WCQ and the young guys have to have hopes.”
There also is the time spent with the coaching staff in training camp, where coaches observe players’ work ethic, find subtle quirks in their game and also get to know a player off the field. Those moments can be even more important than the ones in a friendly like last night’s - something Martino hopes fans will remember after he gave Arsenal prospect Marcelo Flores just seven minutes in his senior debut.
Santiago Gimenez, forward
Mexico’s forward position is primed for a refresh. Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez isn’t coming back any time soon. Raul Jimenez is a great No. 9, but there’s only one of him.
Cruz Azul striker Santiago Gimenez is only 20, but last night he certainly made a case that he can be a more influential forward in games than El Tri’s other options - and not only with the goal he scored.
Gimenez had other chances, notably in the 53rd minute when he trapped the ball excellently with his left foot, weaved between the center backs and was one-on-one with Chile goalkeeper Sebastian Perez.
Gimenez is the type of player who can provide the sort of spark we’re really yet to see from players like Henry Martín or Alexis Vega at the top level and he’s a more adaptable player than Rogelio Funes Mori.
It’s worth seeing if Gimenez can give Mexico the same type of jolt in its biggest matches.
Carlos Acevedo, goalkeeper
Martino has shown a weird reluctance to bring young goalkeepers into the senior team. While many international managers look to build toward the future, Martino has utilized experience when he’s needed back-up for No. 1 Guillermo Ochoa (likely in his last World Cup cycle at age 36).
Jonathan Orozco, who is 35, started the previous non-FIFA friendly match and Alfredo Talavera, who is 39, was in this roster before pulling out with an injury.
Fans clearly were ready to see some new blood between the sticks, chanting Acevedo’s name after he came up with big saves, which was fairly often. The Santos Laguna shot-stopper was beaten twice, once after he stopped a more difficult shot and then got beaten by a weird effort off the rebound and again on a big deflection that made it nearly impossible for the goalkeeper to track the ball.
Otherwise, he was strong, with a third minute extension to stop a header from a free kick setting the tone for the night.
Ochoa is in no danger of losing his hold on the No. 1 spot, but Acevedo may have done enough to convince Martino it’s worth having a goalkeeper born after 1990 with the squad in Qatar.
Luis Olivas, center back
Martino enjoyed the game from the Chivas center back last night, as the 21-year-old made his return to the international game after last representing Mexico in 2017 at the U-17 World Cup.
Olivas was one of five Mexico players who played all 90 minutes of the contest. In addition to a decent night keeping a competent Chilean attack in check, passing well and winning eight of 11 duels there’s a big plus Olivas has in his column.
There simply aren’t many left-footed center backs in the sport, much less in the Mexico pool.
November showed how shorthanded Mexico can get at the back with a handful of suspensions or injuries. With Nestor Araujo suspended plus Hector Moreno and Cesar Montes injured, Martino ended up tossing out a center-back pairing of Johan Vazquez, making his World Cup qualification debut, and veteran “Cata” Dominguez in the most important match of the cycle so far, away to the U.S.
You still wouldn’t want to see Olivas in that scenario, but he could give Mexico a depth option and gradually get worked into the top team.
Honorable Mention: I agree with many analysts I saw that Julian Araujo had a nice match and, considering Mexico’s lack of depth at the right-back spot I can see him getting another call-up during this cycle.
Sebastian Cordova already is something of a regular in the senior team. He was rough in the first half but turned the tide in the second 45. When asked about his performance, Martino offered just one sentence: “Sebastian played a very good second half.” Not compelling for a writer’s big Cordova profile and perhaps some shade at his first half but Martino knows what he has in the América (soon to be Chivas if rumors are to be believed?) player.
Argentine minds, styles clash in Liga MX final
I guess here is where I’m supposed to tell you what to expect from the first leg of the Liga MX final tonight (10 p.m. ET on TUDN), but the truth is I have no idea.
León is a team that has no qualms about getting into the attacking phase of the game, with Angel Mena and the opposite winger able to provide quick transitions and get inside to partner with Victor Davila or Santiago Ormeno while Jean Meneses also provided excellent support in the semifinal against Tigres.
Atlas is a club that loves being in the defensive phase of the game with a core of Anderson Santamaria, Hugo Nervo and Jesus Angulo providing the base allowing Julio Furch, Julian Quinones and the midfielders to put the press on defenders in hopes of securing quick, easy goals and going back to a somewhat defensive posture.
Both squads are managed by Argentines. León is run by Ariel Holan and hopes to get all the way with the club in his first tournament, while Atlas is led by Diego Cocca, a former center back for the club who has helped key the club’s transformation as it looks for its first title since 1951.
“What my players have shown is spectacular will, a union, a clarity with which they’re facing matches and resolving situations within the squad and in the group,” Cocca said this week. “They’ve faced those things with a lot of maturity that exceeds the young age a lot of them are.”
Each manager has crafted his club in his style. Holan is willing to take risks, bringing creative players like Luis Montes or Jean Meneses off the bench after taking out a defensive midfielder, even with the team ahead. His attack is patient, working through combinations and probing before finding the weak point.
It should take some time to find that point in the Rojinegros’ defense, which is why the first leg is so interesting. Will Holan take an even bigger risk, knowing he needs to find a goal at some point in the home leg? Will Cocca go for an early blow, looking to catch León out as the home side looks for a goal?
“We have to take advantage of the push fans like ours give you,” León right back Fernando Navarro said. “We know they’re going to be there and they know how important they are for us. They’re going to help us take a good advantage to Guadalajara.
The chess match should be interesting a two-legged contest worthy of being a final.