Without playing against Guatemala, this player ensured his place in Qatar 2022 thanks to Santiago Giménez

Mexico National Team couldn’t beat Guatemala on Wednesday night in what was the first friendly game of the year for the Aztec squad, on a match that ended in a scoreless draw in Camping World Stadium, in Orlando, Florida.

More Mexico National Team news:

Every Guatemalan player wanted to exchange jerseys with Marcelo Flores, who achieved it?

Although the result wasn’t positive, for the Chapines the draw against a national team like the Mexican is a boost morale, even if El Tri didn’t play with their top-tier squad, as it gives them confidence for the process of the 2026 World Cup, where they aspire to reach their first World Cup in their history.

On the other hand, Mexico National Team couldn’t solve any of the problems that they suffered from during the CONCACAF Qualifiers, especially on the offense, as Gerardo “Tata” Martino hasn’t found a striker that can score consistently.

For the friendly game, Martino called just two forwards: Santiago Giménez from Cruz Azul and Eduardo “Mudo” Aguirre from Santos Laguna, although the latter had to watch the game from the bench, as Giménez played the 90 minutes.

Giménez lost his chance of establishing in the senior team

The game against Guatemala was the perfect opportunity for Santiago Giménez to finally prove to Gerardo Martino why he should consider him to be part of the final roster, but instead of achieving it, he raised more doubts.

It’s true that El Tri barely generated any dangerous plays and that Giménez never had a clear opportunity to score, as the team never managed to synchronize, but his lack of production opened the door for one of Martino’s favorites to ensure their place in Qatar 2022.

During the broadcasting of the game in TUDN, they used the lack of opportunities created by Giménez as an example of why Rogelio Funes Mori won’t have any issues on making it to the World Cup as the second striker, given the few competitors that he has.

Will Giménez make it to the World Cup?

Iván Zamorano, former Real Madrid and Club América striker, said that even if Giménez fights every ball he touches, his lack of aim and the fact that is not going through his greatest moment, consolidates him as the fourth striker in the list, behind Henry Martín, Funes Mori and Raúl Jiménez. It’s yet to be seen if on the following months he manages to surpass Martín, as the Club América striker is going through one of the worst patches of his career.

More Mexico National Team news:

The player that doesn’t want Marcelo Flores in Mexico National Team