Mexico’s Squad for February 6th

Hugo Sanchez evidently feeling the heat for the continued failures against the U.S. has called a very good squad for this friendly- a squad which quite frankly the US cannot match in talent and technical skill even if the the best 23 members of the US player pool were called in. That is because Mexico has better players than the U.S. and a better team than the U.S., but of course does not have the mental aspect of the game, particularly when playing on American soil down. Here is Mexico’s squad for next Wednesday’s friendly. Note the omissions on the inured Nery Castillio and the out of favor Omar Bravo. Carlos Vela who for my money was the best player at the U-17 World Cup in 2005 is on the squad. Some of listeners and readers may not want to accept what I have accepted: Mexico has a golden generation of footballers coming of age right now and continued dominance over them is unlikely unless we substantial improvement and leadership from our veterans.

GOALKEEPERS: Guillermo Ochoa (Club América), Luís Ernesto Michel (CD Guadalajara), Moisés Muñoz (Morelia)

DEFENDERS: Rafael Márquez (FC Barcelona / SPA), Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven / HOL), Johnny Magallón (Chivas), Fausto Pinto (Pachuca), Israel Castro (Pumas UNAM), Oscar Rojas (América)

MIDFIELDERS: Pavel Pardo (VFB Stuttgart / GER), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Francisco Arce (Santos Laguna), Andrés Guardado (Deportivo la Coruna / SPA), Antonio Naelson (Toluca)

FORWARDS: Giovani Dos Santos (FC Barcelona / SPA), Carlos Vela (Osasuna), Juan Carlos Cacho (Pachuca), Adolfo Bautista ( Chiapas), Antonio de Nigris (Ankaraspor / TUR)