Diego Cocca’s team has dominated the two most recent Liga MX short tournaments, but has failed to place its players on the Mexican National Team
The Atlas does not have any National Team player (Photo: Henry Romero/REUTERS)
For the busy schedule of the summer, Gerardo Martino made one of his strongest calls with characters who had not even had a chance with the absolute team. The most recent list of his contemplated 38 footballers, but none were from Atlas, a situation that has surprised experts and fans. However, the Argentine coach gave the argument why he has not had players from the two-time champion team.
During a press conference prior to the match that the The Mexican team will draw with the Uruguayan team, the Tata Martino spoke about the good performance that the red and black team has had in the most recent year. However, he assured that the role of his players born in Mexicohas not been constant enough to be considered in the Tricolor.
“The doors are open to everyone. He draws attention that a team that won the last two tournaments does not have players in the selection, commenting that the Atlas has many foreign players , especially the backbone is from foreigners. There cannot be a massive call for players who were not there, because it would seem that we did nothing in three years”, he told the media.
Gerardo Martino did not close the doors to players from the red and black squad (Photo: Eirk S. Lesser/EFE)
The sports project, headed by Diego Cocca, which led Atlas to winning two championships after experiencing a 70-year drought, has had much of its success thanks to the role of foreign players in its squad. An example of this lies in their offensive power, since it was not until the arrival of Julio Furch and Julián Quiñones that the attack was guaranteed a goal.
Another feature that proves Martino’s argument right is the presence of Mexican players on the field of play. Even in the match for the title they almost took to the maximum article 48 of the Competition Regulations of Liga MX, which indicates that among the 11 players on the field of play, only eight can have the distinction of Not Trained in Mexico (NFM).
And it is that of the players who jumped onto the lawn of the Hidalgo Stadium, from the start of the actions, only José Abella, Luis Reyes, Edgar Zaldivar and Aldo Rocha were trained in Mexico. In addition, none of them have received any opportunity under the command of Gerardo Martino, a situation that makes it difficult for them to appear in future calls and, even more so, in the final list of Qatar 2022 .
Rafa Márquez is one of the most recent references from the Atlas youth academy (Photo: Ulises Ruiz/AFP)
The situation has not always been like this for the red and black squad. In fact, one of the traits that have characterized the team throughout its history is the ability to train playersand take them to even play in foreign leagues. In this situation is Andrés Guardado, as did Rafael Márquez, Pavel Pardo, Alfredo Pistache Torres , Juan Chapetes Gómez and even Daniel Osorno, all of them with a presence in the Tricolor.
On the contrary, the situation in The Tuzos de Pachuca, runner-up team in the Grita México Clausura 2022, is different. The list of 38 names included defender Kevin Álvarez, as well as midfielders Erick Sánchez and Luis Chávez, who will join in the coming days after receiving special permission for having recently finished their season.
Meanwhile, the team led by Gerardo Martino will have its second test against Uruguay, after having beaten Nigeria. Once they complete the procedure with the South American team, they will face Ecuador and, later, they will do so with Suriname and Jamaica in the framework of the Concacaf Nations League.< /p>