Who will make up Mexico’s Copa America 2015 roster?

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With the friendlies out of the way, we’re just waiting for Miguel Herrera to choose his Copa America Roster. As international soccer managers go, he’s pretty candid — but guessing who he’ll take to Chile is a challenge.

To make matters more complex, Mexico will be playing the Gold Cup so they’ll likely bring its strongest side to the Cup. Herrera already confirmed in March he’ll bring a group with a base of veterans from the World Cup. Though it might seem like a glaring omission to leave out Jesus Corona, Hector Herrera, Javier Hernandez, and more, that just means they’ll be playing for a spot in the Confederations Cup in the US over the summer rather than playing South America. We already know that Herrera’s confident his team is able to bring home the Gold Cup. Winning the Copa America, on the other hand, is more of a challenge — which is partly what fans with tickets for the final are looking forward to.

Chicharito goal celebration for Mexico

Chicharito goal celebration for Mexico

Here are our best guesses at which players will be heading to Chile.

For the goalkeepers, there’s a good chance Guillermo Ochoa will make the roster. Herrera and the Mexican coaching staff have acknowledged it’s quite possible they’ll be sending one of their excellent goalkeepers on one team and another one with another. After Corona’s superb match against Ecuador and his inactivity at Malaga, that’s enough to send Ochoa to South America in his second consecutive summer. There’s a small chance of a group match against Brazil, which would be a handy advantage after the World Cup draw.

Otherwise, Orozco and Saucedo make solid choices, helping make up the numbers and being their in case something happens to the top man. While Saucedo could have done a bit better with Juan Agudelo’s United States goal Wednesday, but he’s solid enough with Tijuana to make the team.

Playing defense, we’ll keep in mind that quite a few are needed since Herrera’s system needs two wing backs and three center backs. Diego Reyes seems like a safe choice — he started both March friendlies and has improved as he’s gone along, proving he can be Herrer’s anchorman. Alanis and Dominguez performed superbly against Paraguay (if not so much against the US) but they have good chemistry and might be the best choice next to the Porto center-back.

On the midfield, Jonathan dos Santos has significantly improved his prospects at the national team and he would be the ideal player for a midfield guiding influence. It’s unlikely we’ll see Damm given his injuries and sickness, but Juan Carlos Medina is an option. Luis Montes had trouble against the US this week and he might be a good choice for the Chile-bound team as he recovers from the broken leg which kept him away from the World Cup.

Playing forward, Oribe Peralta’s experience in the World Cup would help on a team which doesn’t have much depth at the top, and Eduardo Herrera has played from being well out of the roster to angling at a spot in the Gold Cup during the last three friendlies. Orozco and Torres might fell out the numbers here.

Sources: theguardian.com / thebiglead.com

Mexico players after scoring a goal

Mexico players after scoring a goal

Mexico players celebrations after the game against New Zealand

Mexico players celebrations after the game against New Zealand