The reason why Héctor Herrera underperforms in Mexico National Team

Mexico National Team will face USMNT, Honduras and El Salvador on the last Word Cup Qualifiers match window looking to qualify directly to Qatar 2022, something they will be able to do if they earn 4 out of the 9 available points.

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The goal seems achievable given that El Tri will face Honduras, who are already eliminated; El Salvador, who need a miracle to arrive to the last game with hopes of classifying; and USMNT, who might save their best players for the last two games of the match window.

But even if the schedule that El Tri has for the next few days seems easy enough to classify without issues, Gerardo “Tata” Martino still needs to make his key players perform the way they do when their playing on their teams.

One of the most evident examples is Héctor Herrera, who even when he had to wait in Atlético Madrid’s bench for his time to shine, he didn’t waste the first opportunity he had, as he’s now established as an essential player for Diego Simeone, although that hasn’t happened when he plays for El Tri.

Why doesn’t he perform the same?

At his arrival at Centro de Alto Rendimiento (CAR), Héctor Herrera hasn’t been able to train at the same pace that most of his teammates, given that he’s one of the players that the Mexican Football Federation usually choses to do El Tri’s advertising.

Even if his place in the starting XI of Gerardo Martino is insured, all the responsibilities that FMF impose to the Atlético Madrid midfielder prevent him from fully participating in the training sessions and the planning done prior the games.

Added to the lack of time for training and bonding with the rest of the roster, Herrera also arrives tired to the games, something that becomes evident once the match starts, as he usually doesn’t know where to be placed and can’t keep up with the rhythm of the game.

Herrera’s numbers with El Tri

Héctor Herrera debuted in Mexico National Team in October of 2012 in a match against El Salvador, part of the CONCACAF Qualifiers for Brazil 2014. Since then, he’s played 95 games, where he’s scored 10 goals and has assisted on 14 times.

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