Mexico (National Football)

The Copa America is a month away and Mexico coach Miguel Herrera is hoping to reach the final, although he has called up some surprising names for the squad—including Enrique Esqueda.

Currently playing for Tigres, “El Paleta” made his professional debut with America in the 2006 Clausura tournament.

However, he became an occasional player in the 2007 Apertura, where he appeared nine times and scored his first couple of goals in the Liga MX.

After that, Las Aguilas gave him more and more playing time, until he secured the starting position in the 2009 Apertura. But things didn't turn so well for Esqueda.

His performances left much to be desired, and after 11 tournaments with America, he was sold to Pachuca.

In his first season with Tuzos, he proved to be back on track. Esqueda posted his best season in the local tournament, putting the ball away eight times in 19 appearances—16 of those in the starting XI.

Just when it seemed that El Paleta was ready to make a real impact with his club, he suffered plantar fasciitis, which hurt his performance deeply.

Esqueda returned for the 2013 Apertura and the 2014 Clausura, but he only scored twice in 16 matches.

Eventually, Pachuca loaned him to Atlas, where he started to show improvement. The forward played 16 times and bagged three goals, his best season in four years.

The 27-year-old caught Tigres' attention; before the 2015 Clausura started, he was transferred to UANL.

Esqueda continued the good momentum he had. For starters, he became a very valuable asset in the Copa Libertadores; he scored four goals in five games.

Little by little, he has recovered the confidence and good touch.

His call-up for this summer's Copa America is neither a surprise nor a first cap.

Esqueda made his debut with Mexico in 2007, in a friendly against Colombia—he came on as a substitute in the 65th minute.

He got another chance a year later against Chile. Esqueda played 45 minutes in El Tri's 0-1 defeat.

In 2009, he appeared two times. In one of them, he helped Mexico secure a two-goal draw against Trinidad and Tobago in the 2010 CONCACAF World Cup qualifier—it was the first and last time he has scored for the national team.

El Paleta didn't travel to South Africa, but after the competition, he received several chances in friendly games from interim coach Efrain Flores.

After four-and-a-half years, he is ready to wear “La Verde” again, and he will be key in Herrera's squad.

His recent form will come in handy because Raul Jimenez has barely played with Atletico Madrid, and he has only put the ball away once since he arrived in Spain.

Yes, we saw Jimenez against Paraguay and he made quite a partnership with Eduardo Herrera, but he's out of rhythm.

Speaking of the Pumas striker, Herrera has had a couple of good seasons with his club (14 goals between the 2014 Apertura and the 2015 Clausura), which landed him a spot with El Tri. He has already put the ball away once, against Paraguay.

With his club, he had a total tally of five goals in the 2015 Clausura.

The other forward is Matias Vuoso, the first naturalized footballer “El Piojo” has called up since he took over the team in 2013.

Vuoso has the killer instinct—he scored five times in the 2015 Clausura. But at 33 years old, the question is: Can he play a whole match? Probably not.

Suddenly, Esqueda doesn't seem to be such a crazy pick, does he?

All stats appear courtesy of ESPN FC.

Mexico's Copa America squad was officially announced on Monday. As expected, Miguel Herrera won't take all the big guns to Chile, but Javier Hernandez and Giovani dos Santos' absences seem to be the most worrisome, at least for the fans.

But make no mistake, there are several reasons why Herrera decided to leave them out from the CONMEBOL competition.

For starters, the Copa America will be played from June 11 to July 4, while the Gold Cup will be held from July 7 to 26.

This situation leaves El Piojo with basically no option but to put together two squads. Traveling from Chile to Chicago, where El Tri will play their first Gold Cup match, would take the footballers at least 12 hours, and that is if they get a private jet.

Realistically, Mexico have a good chance to advance to the knockout stage, then wait and see if they face Group B/C third place (probably Paraguay or Venezuela), or the runner-up from Group C (most likely Brazil or Colombia).

So it seems rather difficult to imagine that El Tri get past the quarterfinals, so we would see them return to Mexican soil on June 25 or 26, just 11 days before the team's Gold Cup debut.

Hernandez and Dos Santos would have to fly in from Europe, and since they are both based in Spain, we are talking about a 13-hour flight (Madrid-Santiago), plus another 12 hours to get to Chicago.

It's a grueling process for any footballer, especially if the hopes aren't very high for the squad.

So Herrera is saving them for the Gold Cup squad and it makes sense.

Not only will they have to make one nine-hour trip (Madrid-Chicago), El Tri need their top players because they are obliged to win this year's CONCACAF championship.

Two years ago, Mexico had a lousy performance in the competition. Since they had already secured a spot in the 2013 Confederations Cup, Jose Manuel de la Torre took a B team to the United States.

Ultimately, Mexico lost to Panama in the semifinals, which put them in a tricky situation for this year's edition. If El Tri want to travel to Russia in 2017 for the Confederations, they have to win the Gold Cup, then defeat the USMNT in a playoff.

Many think that El Piojo has to take the cream of the crop to the Copa America; ultimately, the competition is far more competitive than the Gold Cup.

The CONMEBOL tournament features four teams inside the FIFA Rankings' top 10: Argentina (2nd), Colombia (4th), Brazil (5th) and Uruguay (8th).

Meanwhile, the top-seeded nations in the CONCACAF competition are Costa Rica (15th), Mexico (22nd) and the USA (28th).

Another reason why Herrera isn't taking Hernandez, Dos Santos, Hector Herrera, Hector Moreno and others to Chile is because Mexico must play with their top team in the Gold Cup because El Tri is part of CONCACAF.

They have played nine times in the CONMEBOL tournament as an invited nation. Actually, Mexico hold the record for most appearances as a guest, with nine.

The Copa America squad may not be as strong as the Gold Cup one (which is yet to be announced), but at least it's competitive, different from the one Luis Fernando Tena took to the 2011 edition that lost all its matches.

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Mexico have left several of their star players, including Javier Hernandez and Giovani, out of their squad for the 2015 Copa America in Chile.

Coach Miguel Herrera has named a preliminary 23-man squad for the tournament and it contains just four players based in Europe, per Tom Marshall of ESPN.

Veteran defender Rafael Marquez is one of the quartet on the list below, per the official Twitter account of the Mexican national team:

Hernandez, on loan at Real Madrid from Manchester United, is one of many familiar names to have been left out of the squad who are likely to play in the CONCACAF Gold Cup instead, per Marshall.

Herrera conceded in April, per Marca (h/t Tom Beck of the Copa America’s official website), that Hernandez was unlikely to be involved in the Copa America.

"I do not think Chicharito will go to the Copa America,” said Herrera. “We are more committed to the Gold Cup."

Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, Hector Herrera, Andres Guardado, Carlos Vela and Jonathan Dos Santos are other regular squad members to be sitting out the Copa America.

Marshall, per ESPN, believes Herrera’s squad for the Copa America shows exactly where his priorities lie this summer. He writes:

There's no doubt that this squad is a long way short of Mexico's best. Of all the players in it, it is reasonable to suggest that only Marquez would've got regular minutes in the Gold Cup, although Cruz Azul goalkeeper Jesus Corona will be once again annoyed to have lost out to Guillermo Ochoa, who hasn't even played a single minute in La Liga for Malaga. The undisputed spine of Mexico's "A" team-Hector Moreno, Hector Herrera, Andres Guardado, Javier Hernandez, Carlos Vela-is absent from the Copa America, with Herrera staying true to his word and prioritizing the Gold Cup.

In the Copa America, Mexico have been drawn in the same group as hosts Chile, as well as Ecuador and Bolivia, per the tournament’s official website.

Mexico’s opening game of the competition will be against Bolivia on Friday, June 12 before they face Chile three days later. The group campaign concludes with a game against Ecuador on Friday, June 19.

Prior to the tournament, Mexico will play friendlies away to Peru and Brazil.

Given the squad Herrera has named for the Copa America, it is clear that Mexico are not going to go into the tournament as one of the favourites to win and they will do well to progress beyond the group phase.

But, with a place in the Confederations Cup available to the winners of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, it is no surprise that Herrera has chosen to prioritise that tournament. Mexico have a much stronger chance of winning the Gold Cup, with the United States their chief rivals, rather than having to overcome the likes of Argentina and Brazil to win the Copa America.

It's been quite a ride for Javier Hernandez lately. The Real Madrid striker has finally gotten a chance to prove he can make a difference on the pitch.

Up until March, Chicharito had only played 19 times with Los Blancos, but only in three games had he made the starting XI.

Then he joined Mexico for the Ecuador and Paraguay friendlies in late March. Against La Tri, Hernandez bagged a superb long-distance shot to secure the win for his side.

After the game he told Fox Sports in an exclusive interview that he was frustrated with his situation at Real Madrid, as he was not getting the confidence he expected, per Marca.

Apparently, Carlo Ancelotti heard the Mexican and a week later sent him to the pitch in Real Madrid's 9-1 victory over Granada.

Although Chicharito didn't score, he would score six days later, when he started against Eibar. Hernandez netted in the first half in another win for Ancelotti's side.

Hernandez's momentum grew quickly from there, mainly because he was the coach's choice to replace Karim Benzema, who couldn't perform due to a knee injury he caught in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Atletico Madrid, per AS.

The Mexican had quite a responsibility on his shoulders, but he didn't fall short. Instead, he assisted Cristiano Ronaldo in the last minute of the game.

The moment of the truth came in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, where he made seven shots, one of them to the back of the net to secure Madrid a spot in the semis, per WhoScored.com.

It was also the first time Los Blancos defeated Atletico Madrid in eight games.

Loan Watch: Javier Hernandez goal vs Atletico Madrid http://t.co/b6303JX6Ur #MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtdUpdates_) April 22, 2015

Chicharito kept going. He scored a brace that weekend, in La Liga versus Celta Vigo, and recorded two assists, one against Almeria and an other one in front of Sevilla.

Ever since his shocking declarations, Hernandez has appeared eight times with his club—the same number of possible games. Moreover, he has started five of them.

It's clear that once Hernandez gets hot, he becomes a key piece in the lineup. It was clearly just a matter of trust. Once he got it from Ancelotti, he started scoring.

The same thing happens with Mexico. Hernandez has appeared in every FIFA date with Mexico since he was first capped, per the Mexican football federation. 

Overall, he has been called to El Tri 72 times and has played in 63. He has also scored 35 times, becoming Mexico's second all-time scorer.

This summer Mexico coach Miguel Herrera will probably take Chicharito to the Gold Cup, which El Tri have to win if they want to have a shot at playing the 2017 Confederations Cup.

Hernandez will be instrumental in the attacking zone, where Mexico have struggled the past couple of years.

Chicharito can partner with Carlos Vela just fine. They both appeared against the Netherlands in a November friendly in which they both scored.

Even when the Real Madrid footballer wasn't going through his best moment with his club, he continued scoring with El Tri.

Imagine what could happen now that he's on fire. Miguel Herrera has to be very happy with the situation.

All stats appear courtesy of ESPN FC and Squawka, unless otherwise noted.

Dario Benedetto was the man of the match in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final, but his performance is no surprise.

The Argentine arrived in Mexico for the 2013 Apertura tournament. He had played for Arsenal de Sarandi, Defensa y Justicia and Gimnasia de Jujuy, all from his country, before joining Tijuana.

Benedetto was instrumental for Xolos from his very first season in Mexican football.

He bagged a hat-trick in his first match, against Atlas, which helped his side secure a three-goal draw. In that tournament, he put the ball away five times.

But he was just getting started, and in the 2014 Clausura, he finished the season with seven goals to his count and one assist.

His numbers continue to improve in the 2014 Apertura after netting nine times and recording three assists.

Benedetto's impressive performances sent him straight to America, the champion of the Liga MX and one of the strongest clubs in CONCACAF.

He secured a spot in Gustavo Matosas' starting XI by Week 1. In that game, he assisted Oribe Peralta for Las Aguilas' second.

It took him a month to start scoring with his new team, and he did it in successive matches: against Tigres (winning goal), Morelia, Chiapas and UNAM (winning goal).

Along came the CONCACAF Champions League, and that competition would become the perfect scenario for Benedetto to prove that he was the best transfer of the summer draft.

The Argentine scored seven times, and all of those goals came in key moments, which eventually helped the Mexican club hoist the winner's trophy.

Benedetto missed the group stage and the quarterfinals, but he made his debut in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals.

The footballer netted four times against Herediano in the second leg held at the Estadio Azteca. His goals were instrumental for America because they lost 3-0 in Costa Rica.

Ultimately, Las Aguilas won 6-3 in the aggregate score, and Benedetto tied the record for most goals in a single game of the CONCACAF Champions League. 

Something very similar happened in the final showdown. America and Montreal left the Azteca with a one-goal draw.

But once again, Benedetto served as the hero.

He put the ball away three times at the Olympic Stadium in America's 4-2 win over the MLS side.

This is his first title with Las Aguilas, but he is also aiming to grab the Liga MX title. So far, his club is inside the Liguilla qualification zone.

The 24-year-old has fantastic ball control. His technique and fine touch are undeniable. Benedetto can shoot with both legs but also has a strong aerial game.

He is lethal when he runs through the center of the pitch, where he can create or finish plays with the same ease.

America signed other top players during the summer draft, but they haven’t had the same impact for the team as Benedetto.

Darwin Quintero, for instance, only put the ball away once in the CONCACAF Champions League and once more in the 2015 Clausura. Meanwhile, Cristian Pellerano has missed several games due to injury.

Benedetto and Oribe Peralta have teamed up to form a mean partnership, so it's no wonder why they shared the Golden Boot honors in the continental competition and the Argentine was named MVP.

All stats appear courtesy of CONCACAF and MedioTiempo.com, unless otherwise noted.