Hugo Sanchez will be playing to win when Mexico faces the USA Feb. 7 in Glendale, Ariz., in his debut as Tri coach.
Sanchez called up captain Rafael Marquez from Barcelona, and three other European-based stars — Carlos Salcido from PSV Eindhoven and Stuttgart’s Pavel Pardo and Ricardo Osorio.
Mexico won the battle for the services of Nery Castillo, who will be making his international debut. The 22-year-old Olympiakos midfielder was born in Mexico, where his father of the same name played professional soccer, but grew up in Uruguay. He was also courted by Uruguay and Greece, where he has played for the last six years.
Sanchez says the five European-based players won’t travel to Arizona to sit on the bench.
“I don’t want to send any clues to our rival,” he said, “so I won’t say if they going to start or not, but they will play.”
In addition, forwards Jared Borgetti and Francisco Fonseca just returned to Mexico after stints in Europe.
- MEXICO ROSTER:
Goalkeepers: Oswaldo Sanchez (Santos), Guillermo Ochoa (America), Sergio Bernal (UNAM).
Defenders: Ricardo Osorio (Stuttgart/Germany), Israel Castro (UNAM), Carlos Salcido (PSV/Netherlands), Francisco Javier Rodriguez (Guadalajara), Rafael Marquez (Barcelona/Spain), Ramon Morales (Guadalajara), Jaime Lozano (Tigres), Joaquin Beltran (Necaxa).
Midfielders: Alberto Medina (Guadalajara), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Pavel Pardo (Stuttgart/Germany), Gonzalo Pineda (Guadalajara), Andres Guardado (Atlas), Gerardo Galindo (Necaxa), Nery Castillo (Olympiakos/Greece).
Forwards: Jared Borgetti (Cruz Azul), Omar Bravo (Guadalajara), Adolfo Bautista (Guadalajara), Francisco Fonseca (Cruz Azul), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Club America).