Mexico’s new international chapter has opened on American soil, where Rafael Márquez has taken charge of his first training session before a four-match run of friendlies across the United States. The former defender, a veteran of five World Cups as a player, begins his work with the national side alongside a staff that includes Andrés Guardado, another long-standing figure in Mexican football.
Seventeen of the 30 players called up were present for the opening session, with the group still due to grow. Johan Vásquez, Armando González, Álvaro Fidalgo, Obed Vargas, Mateo Chávez and Santiago Giménez are expected to arrive from Europe on Tuesday, giving Márquez more of his intended squad as the tour approaches.
The first selection has also brought back Hirving Lozano, now with LA Galaxy, while Mexican naturalised forward Germán Berterame of Inter Miami has been included. There has already been one enforced change: América midfielder Alan Cervantes has withdrawn with a muscle injury, and his club colleague Isaías Violante has taken his place.
A four-city American itinerary
Márquez will make his debut on the Mexico bench on Saturday against Colombia at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. The side then travels north-east for a meeting with Peru on 29 September at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.
The October portion of the journey starts on the third of the month, when Mexico face the United States at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Three days later, the programme closes in California, with Chile awaiting at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
For Márquez, whose playing career carried him from Mexico to Europe and through football’s largest international stages, the opening camp is less a ceremonial return than the beginning of a demanding period of assembly. Across four venues and four opponents, he has the first opportunity to shape a group around familiar national-team names, returning players and a new coaching partnership with Guardado.
