The Mexican Soccer Federation issued an ultimatum to the first 12 players called up for the World Cup on Wednesday, threatening to drop them from the Mexican National Team if they do not show up for training this Wednesday before 8:00 pm.
“All players must report to the High Performance Center. As instructed by the coaching staff, any player who does not report to the training camp today will be excluded from the World Cup,” the Federation announced on Wednesday.
Aguirre backs down and sparks controversy
The notice signifies a reversal of a leave of absence that, according to local media, coach Javier Aguirre had given to striker Alexis Vega and defender Jesús Gallardo.
This to line up tonight with Toluca against Los Angeles FC in the semifinal of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Vega and Gallardo suspended their vacations to train yesterday with Toluca.
This sparked controversy because the teams playing in the quarterfinals of the Clausura tournament claimed their right to also have the selected players.
Aguirre’s decision to call up a dozen players to begin the final part of the preparation has caused controversy.
This is because most of the starters in the World Cup will be those involved in foreign leagues and those will not be (Filed as: Mexican National Team issues strong ultimatum).
Laínez and Marcel Ruiz, the big absentees for El Tri
What beneficial work for the national team can the strategist do if his best players will be absent?
This is the question in Mexican soccer circles, where several voices defend that the 12 players chosen to play in the World Cup would have benefited more from playing with their teams in the decisive stage of the Clausura tournament.
In his call-up list, released last week, Aguirre excluded players in good sporting shape:
Forward Diego Laínez of Tigres and midfielder Marcel Ruiz of Toluca, the latter returning from a knee injury.
It is assumed that although the 12 players called up are already in the World Cup squad, Aguirre could call up other Liga MX stars at the last minute.
This is where Laínez and Ruiz’s hopes of playing in the World Cup lie (Filed under: Mexican National Team issues strong ultimatum).
El Tri fine-tunes details before facing Ghana and Australia
Starting today, Aguirre will begin working with goalkeepers Raúl Rangel of Guadalajara and Carlos Acevedo of Santos Laguna.
Defenders Gallardo (Toluca) and Israel Reyes (América) and midfielders Erik Lira (Cruz Azul), Luis Romo (Guadalajara), Brian Gutiérrez (Guadalajara) and Gilberto Mora (Tijuana).
Forwards Roberto Alvarado (Guadalajara), Armando González (Guadalajara), Alexis Vega (Toluca) and Guillermo Martínez (Pumas UNAM) will also train on Wednesday.
Aguirre left out soccer players in great form
QuéOnnda.com
Mexico will play friendlies against Ghana on May 22, Australia on May 20 and Serbia on June 4.
One week before their debut against South Africa, on the 11th at the World Cup opening.
El Tri will then face Korea on the 18th and the Czech Republic on the 24th (Filed as: Selección Mexicana lanza fuerte ultimátum).
With information from EFE
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