The nations that are headed to Brazil to participate in this year’s World Cup must submit their provisional 30 man rosters by May 12th. With the deadline approaching fast, there are no guarantees as to who will be on the squad for the Mexican side that struggled so desperately to only just qualify for a spot in Brazil 2014. Miguel Herrera, the head coach for El Tri, was hard at work promoting the international match on June 3rd with Bosnia-Herzegovina in Chicago last week. He also revealed that about 80 to 90 percent of the opening squad against Cameroon in Brazil will also start in the preparation match against Bosnia-Herzegovina. This does not come as much of a surprise since the deadline to submit a final 23 man squad for Brazil is on June 2nd. The only clue given so far by ”El Piojo” Herrera came during a 100 quick fire questions interview with the Mexican sports blog RÉCORD, where he admitted he felt more secure with Jesus Corona in front of the goal, instead of Guillermo Ochoa. That leaves 22 spots that any player could take.
For the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Mexico roster consisted of 3 goalkeepers, 9 defenders, 5 midfielders, and 6 forwards. In 2010 the roster was a lot more aggressive on the attack with 3 goalkeepers, 8 defenders, 4 midfielders and 8 forwards. Herrera is widely known for an attacking play style with a 5 man defensive line. The extra defender allows the left and right backs to push forward and feed the forwards crosses from the wings while three center backs continue to defend if both the left and right backs happen to be occupied while attacking. Herrera will most likely continue to play with this style which means we could see a roster with up to 8 defenders with Rafael Marquez, Miguel Layun, Hector Moreno and Francisco Rodriguez more than likely to make a return. Herrera has also consistently utilized Luis Montes and Carlos Pena as his central midfielders but Hector Herrera and Giovani Dos Santos could bring valuable European football experience to the squad. With so many attacking options for the Mexican side, it’s hard to say who will end up striking in Brazil. The only player that can be ruled out is Carlos Vela, since he has asked not to be considered for the tournament and although Chicharito Hernandez and Oribe Peralta have been the go to choices in previous games, the Cruz Azul top goal scorer Marco Fabian and the in form Club America striker Raul Jimenez could very well see some world cup action. With Jesus Corona the most likely to start for Mexico this summer, and Guillermo Ochoa as a close second, the third goalkeeper spot will more than likely go to Moises Munoz who gained Herrera’s trust when El Piojo lead Club America to the Liga MX championship.
Another huge factor to take into consideration is Herrera’s tendency to sanction players from Mexico’s domestic league instead of those playing in Europe. It will surely be an interesting roster for the Mexicans with nobody able to truly impress Herrera at the national level.
