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Liga MX: Club America’s Diego Lainez becomes 6th youngest to debut for El Tri

By Luis Ramos

HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 07: Diego Lainez #18 of Mexico leaps over Nahitan Nandez #8 of Uruguay and Diego Laxalt in the second half during the International Friendly match between Mexico and Uruguay at NRG Stadium on September 7, 2018 in Houston, United States. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 07: Diego Lainez #18 of Mexico leaps over Nahitan Nandez #8 of Uruguay and Diego Laxalt in the second half during the International Friendly match between Mexico and Uruguay at NRG Stadium on September 7, 2018 in Houston, United States. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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Mexico’s “Wonder kid”  saw some action in Friday night’s horrific 4-1 defeat to Uruguay.

With the new youth movement happening in the Mexican national team, it was no surprise that Club America’s Diego Lainez would be part of it. There is a lot of excitement surrounding Lainez, with expectations set high for him. At just 18 years of age, he became the sixth youngest player to debut for El Tri in team history.

When his number was called to come on for Elias Hernandez, there was a lot of cheers from the thousands of Mexico fans in the NRG stadium in Houston, Texas. Although Mexico was down 4-1 to Uruguay, Lainez play gave the fans something to cheer. He wasted no time to make his presence felt on the field. There were quite a few plays where Lainez showed off his skills and, at one point, the youngster took on three players from Uruguay while trying to create an opportunity for the Mexican attack.

In his first 27 minutes of action, Lainez displayed well-rounded football. He played tough defense and used his speed to outrun the Uruguayan defenders. That is the level of play that is expected from him and one can only hope that it continues to grow with more experience and minutes Lainez receives in club and international play.

Lainez performance was not bad at all for a debut in an international friendly match. I am most excited to see how Tuca uses Lainez in the next match vs USA, however. Now that Chucky Lozano and Erik Gutierrez have been allowed to return to their clubs, that opens up two spots in the Mexican starting lineup and hopefully Lainez will get a nod to start.

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If Lainez does receive the opportunity to start in the next match and he continues to display his top-end skills, I wouldn’t be surprised to see if he starts to receive more interests from European clubs. As it is, it was being reported that Roma had made an inquiry for Diego Lainez but Club America rejected any offer made for the young Mexican star. If Diego Lainez can continue to develop his skill, and as he gains more minutes and maturity, he will become a household name for the Mexican national team.

It would be a great sight to see Chucky Lozano and Diego Lainez opposite of each other leading the Mexican attack for the next World Cup. There is still plenty of time left, but if his short debut against Uruguay is a sneak peek of what to expect from him, then it is safe to say that Mexico will be in good hands in the future.

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