Gerardo Martino already decided the first player that he won’t consider for Qatar 2022

With the 2-0 victory over El Salvador in the last game of the FIFA match window, the Mexican national team closed their participation on the CONCACAF Qualifiers for at least six years, as they won’t be part of them for the 2026 World Cup, as they will be hosting it.

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The Aztec squad was able to finish second in the CONCACAF Standings tied in point with Canada and three points over USMNT and Costa Rica, and despite the lack of goals they suffered from for most of the Qualifiers, they were the best defense in North America.

Now, Gerardo “Tata” Martino needs to start planning what will be the toughest eight months of his tenure, as he will have to fix the problems that hurt Mexico the most before Qatar 2022 if they want to have a worthy participation.

One of those problems have to do with the players that don’t contribute to El Tri’s needs, especially in defense, as it seems that Martino finally found the duo of center backs that will start in the World Cup: Johan Vásquez and César Montes.

The first player erased is a defender

On the left side of the pitch, Martino has multiple players with the level needed to be part of the Aztec squad, but on the right side, he usually called Luis “Chaka” Rodríguez, who has deteriorated his shape so much that he even lost his place in Tigres’ starting XI.

Martino knows that “Chaka” can’t contribute anything more to El Tri, which is why he didn’t call him for the past FIFA match window, and he intends to keep him out of the roster even if he was one of his favorites for most of the Qualifiers.

In his place, Martino used Club América’s right-back Jorge Sánchez as the starter for the three games, although right behind him is LA Galaxy’s Julian Araujo and even Pumas’ Alan Mozo could end up sneaking if the Argentine coach finally decides to call him.

“Chicharito” and Carlos Salcedo, still with possibilities

Although Martino vetoed both Javier “Chicharito” Hernández and Carlos Salcedo for breaking the discipline rules he established in El Tri’s camp, they still can sneak into the final roster if Martino doesn’t find players in better shape than them.

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