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Mexican National Team Roster: Osorio Sticking To His Young Guns

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Editorial (July 18, 2017) – The 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup Group Stage ended this past weekend. Mexico won Group C with two wins and one draw. Despite having the chance to make up to six changes, Juan Carlos Osorio chose to keep his 23-man Mexican National Team roster intact. He’s sticking with the young guns for the knock out rounds. Mexico take on Honduras on Thursday in Glendale, AZ.

Mexican National Team Roster: Osorio Sticking To His Young Guns

Mexico had their ups and downs in the group stage. Their wing play and speed created their win in the opening game against El Salvador, 3-1. They played a frustrating 0-0 draw against Jamaica. They had trouble breaking down an organized defense. El Tri got a 2-0 win against Curacao, where they created chances but had trouble converting them.

The possession and the shot totals have been there. The goals haven’t always though. Five different players have scored for them this tournament, but no one has more than one. The Houston Dynamo’s Erik Torres has been kept off the scoresheet. Only Elías Hernández has multiple assists. His goal and two assists all came against El Salvador.

There just doesn’t seem to be a reliable goal scorer or central chance creator on this 23-man roster. The defense has only given up one goal, granted against a weak group offensively. They still have a veteran goalkeeper in Jesús Corona though.

Still, Juan Carlos Osorio chose to stick with this roster. No Oribe Peralta. No fresh legs. No other players he might have wanted to assess going into the second half of the Hexagonal in World Cup Qualification. Part of this is understandable, given many of the first choice players were not on the 40-man roster as they were at the Confederations Cup last month.

This is a chance for Osorio to continue to assess some of his younger players. Give someone a chance to rise above the others and get into the conversation for World Cup Qualifiers. But Osorio could still be in the hot seat after his incident with a fourth official at the Confed Cup. Some pundits have claimed El Tri needs to win the Gold Cup or he could be on the chopping block.

Osorio’s job may or may not be at risk. Regardless, he seems to think it’s worth it to invest more minutes into the reserve players. We’ll see if this decision pays off with goals.

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