Guardado, Márquez named to expanded Mexico roster for CONCACAF Cup

By Kyle McCarthy
Published

Mexico interim manager Ricardo Ferretti included injured stars Andrés Guardado and Rafael Márquez in his 25-man squad for the CONCACAF Cup playoff against the United States next week.

Guardado and Márquez were expected to miss the match after picking up knocks earlier this month, but Ferretti opted to named both of them in the expanded squad released by the FMF on Thursday.

It is unknown at this point whether Guardado or Márquez feature on the final 23-man roster submitted to CONCACAF. Both countries were required to send their final rosters to the confederation by Thursday. CONCACAF is planning to announce the final rosters on Monday.

Mexico physiotherapist Carlos Peçanha visited Guardado in the Netherlands after Guardado injured his left ankle in PSV Eindhoven’s 2-1 victory over Manchester United earlier this month. Peçanha expressed optimism about Guardado’s recovery in time for the crunch fixture.

Márquez faced a similar race against time after sustaining a groin injury during Hellas Verona’s 1-1 draw with Atalanta on Sept. 20. Whether he has won it remains an open question after Ferretti also named Miguel Herrera and José Arturo Rivas in his expanded squad.

Ferretti also recalled Giovani and Jonathan dos Santos after he omitted them from his squad to face Trinidad & Tobago and Argentina last month. Giovani dos Santos is expected to compete for playing time up front, while Jonathan dos Santos is likely to compete with José Juan Vazquez in a holding role.

Guillermo Ochoa missed out on one of the three available goalkeeping berths. Ochoa’s lack of match practice ultimately prompted Ferretti to select Monterrey goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco instead. Moisés Muñoz and Alfredo Talavera are poised to battle for the starting berth with Muñoz holding the edge after he performed well against Argentina.

Club León midfielder Carlos Peña also returned to the squad after producing his best form since the World Cup, but León teammate Luis Montes missed out.

Mexico roster for CONCACAF Cup

(Note: Two further cuts pending.)

Goalkeepers: Moisés Muñoz (Club América), Jonathan Orozco (Monterrey), Alfredo Talavera (Toluca)

Defenders: Paul Aguilar (Club América), Israel Jiménez (Tigres UANL), Miguel Layún (FC Porto), Rafael Márquez (Hellas Verona), Héctor Moreno (PSV Eindhoven), José Arturo Rivas (Tigres UANL), Diego Reyes (Real Sociedad), Jorge Torres Nilo (Tigres UANL)

Midfielders: Javier Aquino (Tigres UANL), Jesús Corona (FC Porto), Jonathan dos Santos (Villarreal), Carlos Esquivel (Toluca), Andrés Guardado (PSV Eindhoven), Carlos Peña (Club León), José Juan Vázquez (Club León)

Forwards: Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Javier Hernández (Bayer Leverkusen), Raúl Jiménez (Benfica), Oribe Peralta (Club América), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad)