Mexico coach, Hugo Sanchez, has announced the 27 players who will form his squad for the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
18/MAY/2007 - Hugo Sanchez has called up all of the Mexican players that ply their trades in the European leagues, including Nery Castillo of Olympiakos. Castillo is of Uruguayan decent, and will be playing his first official games for Mexico.
Sanchez will chose 21 of the 27 players called up to take part in the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup being held in the United States. The tournament will take place from the 6th to the 24th of June.
Sanchez is still waiting to see whether Rafael Márquez (FC Barcelona), Pavel Pardo, Ricardo Osorio (Stuttgart), and Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven) will participate in both the Gold Cup and the Copa America or just one of the tournaments.
Aside from the European based players, Sanchez called up goalkeeper Luis Ernesto Michel from Chivas - for his first appearance with the national team. The Mexican squad for the Gold Cup and the Copa America is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Oswaldo Sánchez (Santos), Guillermo Ochoa (América), Jesús Corona (Tecos),and Luis Ernesto Michel (Guadalajara).
Defenders: Jonny Magallón, Gonzalo Pineda y Francisco Rodríguez (Guadalajara), José Antonio Castro (América), Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven), Rafael Márquez (FC Barcelona), Ricardo Osorio (Stuttgart), Fausto Pinto (Pachuca), Gerardo Galindo (Pumas UNAM).
Midfielders: Pavel Pardo (Stuttgart), Jaime Lozano (Tigres), Ramón Morales (Guadalajara), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Jaime Correa (Pachuca), Andrés Guardado (Atlas), Fernando Arce (Morelia).
Strikers: Alberto Medina, Adolfo Bautista y Omar Bravo (Guadalajara), Cuauhtémoc Blanco (América), Francisco Fonseca (Tigres), Nery Castillo (Olimpiakos), Jared Borgetti (Cruz Azul), and Juan Carlos Cacho (Pachuca).