Another injury whittles down Mexico’s roster further
El Tri’s training camp is beginning to look more like a triage station.
The next rival for Team Mexico in the Concacaf Gold Cup is Martinique, but their toughest opponent continues to be the injury bug.
Erick Gutiérrez went down with a hamstring injury less than 30 minutes into Wednesday’s game against Canada and team officials confided to “Record” that the PSV Eindhoven midfielder would need at least two weeks of rehab. The Cup final is on July 7, just over two weeks from now, so Guti is unlikely to get back to the field in time to help.
Guti joins midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro and defender Héctor Moreno on the Mexico sidelines, while the walking wounded include midfielders Edson Álvarez and Jonathan dos Santos, as well as defender Carlos Salcedo.
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Álvarez suffered a knee injury against Venezuela on June 6, finally returning to action against Canada and playing the full 90 minutes. Edson is the linchpin of the Team Mexico midfield and he can also play defense, so his versatility would have been sorely missed had he failed to recover.
Dos Santos reported to El Tri’s training camp at the beginning of the month with a nagging hip injury, but he played (and scored) against Ecuador on June 9. The L.A. Galaxy midfielder got the start against Canada on Wednesday and subbed out in minute 73. The loss of Gutiérrez and Pizarro means the Mexico midfield can’t afford any further injuries.
Salcedo suffered a knee injury in the Liga MX final on May 26, but rehabbed diligently and was kept on the roster. The 25-year-old Tigres defender is still not 100 percent, but was fit enough to play 77 minutes in Mexico’s Gold Cup opener against Cuba. He was rested against Canada since Álvarez was ready to play again and Diego Reyes was moved from holding midfielder into central defense.
Meanwhile, neither Pizarro nor Moreno has seen action in the Gold Cup. Pizarro was set to be the starting right winger but suffered a thigh injury in training. The Monterrey playmaker had an MRI in Denver on Thursday, but there is still no official word on his status, though he is not expected to suit up for Sunday’s game against Martinique.
As for Moreno, the 31-year-old defender pulled his groin in the friendly against Ecuador and was nearly cut from the Gold Cup roster. However, fellow defender Jorge Sánchez suffered an injury to his instep in the same game and when it became apparent that he would not recover in time to participate in the Gold Cup, coach “Tata” Martino decided to keep Moreno in the squad in hopes that he might be available before the tournament is over.
Sánchez became the fifth Team Mexico player from Martino’s preliminary 29-player roster to be removed from the team due to injury. Winger Hirving Lozano and right back Miguel Layún were ruled out before training camp even opened. León midfielder José Iván Rodríguez was unable to recover from an ankle injury he suffered during the Liga MX playoffs and forward Marco Fabian arrived at training camp with an ankle injury and was released from the squad.
To add insult to injury …
Team Mexico officials were upset about a travel mishap that produced a 10-hour delay for the team. El Tri was supposed to leave Denver at 2 p.m. on Thursday and arrive in Charlotte at 7 p.m., but a problem with the tire on the chartered plane left team officials wondering if they’d have to stay an extra night. Instead, tournament officials finally supplied a plane for the team and players arrived at their hotel in Charlotte at 5 a.m. Friday morning. A practice was rescheduled for Friday afternoon.