Gerardo Martino found the perfect replacement for Raúl Jiménez; he plays in Europe

The Mexican national team have less than seven months to prepare themselves for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as they need to improve the performances the showed during the CONCACAF Qualifiers if they want to have a worthy participation in Qatar.

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Gerardo “Tata” Martino is aware that the Aztec squad diminished their performances as they had to prioritize the results to ensure their presence in Qatar, but now that they know that they will face Poland, Argentina, and Saudi Arabia, they must focus on enhance their form.

One of the main things that didn’t work out during the Qualifiers was the attack. The three strikers that Martino called were far from the top scorers of CONCACAF, as Canada international Cyle Larin scored 13 goals, 10 more than Raúl Jiménez.

Henry Martín was able to find the net two times and Rogelio Funes Mori just one, which is why the Argentine coach is still looking for strikers that can score consistently if they want to have chances of beating Poland on November 20.

His answer is in Europe

One of the things that Martino has been criticized the most is for being stuck with the same players, as he barely moves the roster whenever El Tri is playing a FIFA match window, something that he will have to change prior to Qatar 2022 if he wants to succeed.

After realizing that the current strikers haven’t been of much use, Martino should expand his horizons and look for a striker outside the players that he usually observes, and instead give a chance to a young striker like Santiago Muñoz.

Even if Muñoz had a hard time adapting to English soccer due to injuries, in recent months he’s earned a spot in the starting XI of Newcastle United U-23 and even Eddie Howe has said that he’s been impressed with his skills and abilities on the few times they’ve had the chance to train with the academy teams.

He wants to play for Mexico

Although the 19-year-old forward has the dual nationality, as he was born in El Paso, Texas, he has played for the Mexican academy teams, most recently for the U-23, and given that he already has experience playing in first division -with Santos Laguna in Liga MX- he could be the answer to Martino’s needs.

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