It doesn’t appear that Carlos Vela or Javier “Chicharito” Hernández will play for Mexico again.
While that’s not breaking news, the fact that their absences are still being discussed and their names are still at the front of Mexico fans’ minds is a bad sign for El Tri. With just three World Cup qualifiers to play and the team’s place still to be determined, Mexico has struggled to score goals throughout the campaign.
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Mexico head coach Tata Martino is desperate for solutions at this point. Despite boasting an attacking front three that features Wolverhampton’s Raúl Jiménez, Napoli’s Chucky Lozano and Sevilla’s Tecatito Corona, El Tri has struggled to score goals for the better part of two years. Injuries to all three players over the course of Martino’s tenure haven’t helped. And without a reliable back up to Jiménez, Martino has been forced to experiment up front.
While Jiménez recovered from a head injury, Martino tried using Lozano as a false 9, which was not an effective solution. Martino then propelled naturalized striker Rogelio Funes Mori to the top of the depth chart last year.
The CF Monterrey striker had certainly earned the opportunity. But his output — five goals in 15 international appearances, and zero goals in three consecutive World Cup qualifying starts — wasn’t enough to silence the calls for Hernández’s return to El Tri. Thursday night at the Estadio Azteca, one can expect Martino to roll the dice once again on Jiménez, Corona and Lozano, and hope that they put their chances away against the Americans this time.
But with Vela and Hernández on the outside, it raises the question of whether this current El Tri side is truly representative of the country’s best players. Of course, good players get left off national team rosters all over the world for a number of reasons. And while one wouldn’t write their names in ink on a Mexico lineup sheet, from a footballing standpoint, it’s difficult to establish a case as to why Vela and Hernández are not in the squad.
Aside from being two massively popular Mexican stars, Vela and Hernández are both what El Tri desperately needs: in-form goalscorers. In the opening weekend of the 2022 MLS season, Vela and Hernández began their individual campaigns on a high. Vela tallied a hat trick against the Colorado Rapids, immediately establishing LAFC as a MLS Cup contender again. And a day later, Hernández scored the winner in a 1-0 victory over defending champion NYCFC. At 33 years old, both Vela and Hernández are past their prime, but they’re still scoring and, in the absence of new reliable goal threats emerging for Mexico, they’re still relevant.
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Vela, however, has been clear that his international career is over, telling ESPN’s Hercules Gómez in February that he won’t play for Mexico again.
“This is a moment for the younger players,” Vela said. “Chucky (Lozano), Tecatito (Corona), (Diego) Lainez, (Alexis) Vega. They’re improving and they’re young. They have a lot to prove. I had my chance. I wasn’t able to take Mexico further than other (generations). It’s time for others to give it a try and to take (Mexico) where we couldn’t.”
Vela’s decision to walk away from international football (again) can be respected, but for a veteran player to suggest that simply passing the torch is means to success is short sighted. Mexico’s team mentality is fragile. The talent is there, but the leadership on the field is lacking. Successful teams have always had a mix of hungry young players and more mature, experienced players.
“We need Chicharito. When he plays, he plays to win,” said Luis, a resident of Mexico City.
Luis has a valid point — one shared by many local fans. That said, Mexico does have some experienced players, like Andrés Guardado, 35, who may play in his fifth World Cup if Mexico qualifies for Qatar 2022. Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa wears the armband in Guardado’s absence, but Ochoa isn’t a fiery captain. Héctor Herrera, 31, patrols the middle of the park, but the Atlético Madrid defensive midfielder is even less vocal than Ochoa. Mexico shouldn’t buckle under pressure the way they have during these qualifiers, especially in games against the United States. So what’s the problem?
“The current team plays to not lose,” Luis said. “In the past, we had Luis Hernández, Rafa Marquéz, (Alberto) García Aspe, Jorge Campos and Cuauhtemoc Blanco. They had a presence about them.”
The last time that Mexico defeated the U.S. was in 2019, with Hernández scoring on the night.
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In the latest call-ups, Martino included Monterrey midfielder Erick Aguirre, a battle-tested 25-year-old with a confident, steely look about him. Aguirre represents the future of Mexico’s national team, but he needs guidance.
Now, Vela is right in that Mexico has produced quality players at his position, players who can occupy wide channels or central attacking half spaces and create chances. However, Vela’s creativity around the box and his ability to score are assets that Martino could still utilize. Despite scoring just 19 goals in 72 international appearances for Mexico, Vela remains a player who garners considerable attention from opposing defenses.
While Vela has closed the door on his international career, it remains slightly ajar for Hernández. Last month, Hernández was asked if he visualized himself playing in his fourth World Cup with Mexico.
“Everyday I try to be a better version of myself,” he said. “I’ll do my best to be considered for selection…those are decisions that are made by the manager.”
In 2017, Chicharito and Carlos Vela combined for the equalizer against the United States in a crucial World Cup qualifier at the Estadio Azteca.
It’s evident that Martino is unmoved by Chicharito’s form with the Galaxy. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward scored 17 goals in 2021, but that hasn’t mended his fractured relationship with the Argentine. Martino has not recalled Hernández since 2019, due to the player’s lack of accountability in breaking team rules during a national team camp in San Antonio, Texas.
There is an interesting parallel with the way U.S. national team legend Landon Donovan’s national team career ended. Donovan, considered among the best American footballers to date, was controversially left off the 2014 U.S. World Cup roster by then coach Jürgen Klinsmann.
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At that time, Donovan’s decorated international résumé meant little to the German manager. It was a stunning decision. Like Hernández, Donovan is his country’s all-time leading scorer. Donovan’s sabbatical from the game before key World Cup qualifiers unnerved Klinsmann and ultimately cemented Donovan’s fate.
“By making all those decisions he made for himself, he has to be accountable,” Klinsmann said in 2014. “And maybe he paid the price.”
Martino has been asked about Hernández countless times by reporters in Mexico. He hasn’t referenced Chicharito’s indiscipline during that 2019 camp, but he has inferred that Hernández’s absence is a sporting decision. Martino went a step further by saying that being Mexico’s all-time leader in goals scored doesn’t guarantee playing time. Yet, Martino’s alternatives at the No. 9 have been lackluster.
Jiménez is a top Premier League striker with an impressive skill set that allows him to play as a deep-lying playmaker, as well. But at the international level, and especially at a World Cup, box-dwelling goal poachers like Hernández are incredibly important. In that sense, Mexico has not replaced the opportunistic Chicharito. He can still produce, and at the start of this MLS season, Hernández has looked sharp.
His goal-crashing ability inside the box and his hold up play are attributes that would benefit the current version of El Tri. However, Hernández’s apparent refusal to reach out to Martino and apologize for past transgressions may cost him a spot in Qatar. But letting that situation dictate squad inclusions may be a luxury that Mexico can’t afford.
(Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
