The Mexican National Team can’t seem to move on from the Rafa Marquez era.
The 38-year-old centerback was named by the Mexican Football Federation to El Tri’s 40-man preliminary squad for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. If he plays, it would be the fifth time he has played in a Gold Cup.
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Most of the squad consists of players based in Mexico’s Liga MX, with the top stars of the league as well as Mexico’s European-based players all called in for the Confederations Cup roster in Russia this month. The lone exception to the Liga MX party is the Houston Dynamo’s Erick “Cubo” Torres, who has 10 goals in 14 games with 12 starts so far this season, good for second-best in the league.
Notable inclusions in the preliminary squad are Tigres’ Jurgen Damm, who has been long linked to a move to England and Pachuca’s Hirving Lozano. Orbelin Pineda, one of Chivas’ breakout stars this past season who led the club to the Clausura title, is also in the squad and has been rumored to be a Valencia target.
While the squad isn’t made up of the top players, it should serve as a great chance for the Mexico National Team staff and its coach Juan Carlos Osorio to evaluate the player pool ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Mexico is hoping to improve on its Round of 16 exit from the 2014 World Cup.
Here’s a look at the Mexico preliminary Gold Cup squad:
Goalkeepers
1- Moisés Muñoz / Chiapas
2- Jesús Corona / Cruz Azul
3- Miguel Fraga / Atlas
4- Jonathan Orozco / Santos
5- Rodolfo Cota / Chivas
Defenders
6- Raúl López / Pachuca
7- Luis Rodríguez / Tigres
8- Rodrigo Salinas / Toluca
9- Jorge Torres Nilo / Tigres
10- Alejandro Mayorga / Chivas
11- Jesús Molina / Monterrey
12- Oswaldo Alanís / Chivas
13-Carlos Vargas / Tijuana
14- Hedgardo Marín / Chivas
15- Hugo Ayala / Tigres
16- César Montes / Monterrey
17- Luis Reyes / Atlas
18- Néstor Araujo / Santos
19- Rafael Márquez / Atlas
20- Jair Pereira / Chivas
Midfielders
21- Jesús Gallardo / Pumas
22- Edson Álvarez / América
23- Jorge Hernández / Pachuca
24- Jesús Dueñas / Tigres
25- Rodolfo Pizarro / Chivas
26- Javier Salas / Atlas
27- Jesús Isijara / Necaxa
28- Javier López / Chivas
29- Walter Sandoval / Santos
Forwards
30- Orbelín Pineda / Chivas
31- Erick Gutiérrez / Pachuca
32- Elías Hernández / León
33- Jurgen Damm / Tigres
34- Martín Barragán / Atlas
35- Oribe Peralta / América
36- Erick Torres / Houston Dynamo
37- Alan Pulido / Chivas
38- Hirving Lozano / Pachuca
39- Ángel Sepúlveda / Querétaro
40- Ángel Zaldívar / Chivas