Liga MX Review: Five Players Osorio Missed for the Mexican National Team

Last Thursday, Mexican national team manager Juan Carlos Osorio released his 24-man roster for the two upcoming World Cup qualifying matches against El Salvador and Honduras in early September.

As is expected for any roster release, the list was met with plenty of criticism from fans who were eager to see their favorite players don El Tri's jersey in the next two games. Although some got their wish after an injured Paul Aguilar was replaced by Orbelin Pineda on Sunday night, many are still left scratching their heads after seeing certain questionable names like Yasser Corona and Carlos Peña on the call-up.

In an effort to highlight those that Osorio might have glanced over too quickly, let's take a look at five players that the manager should have considered for the upcoming World Cup qualifying games.

(Update: After an injury to Porto's Jesus "Tecatito" Corona, it was announced on Monday afternoon that the winger is being replaced by Leon's Elias Hernandez.)

Raul Lopez, Pachuca

After the injury to current starter Aguilar, it's time to try out new right-backs, and the 23-year-old Lopez should be close to No. 1 on that list of backup options. He's an accurate crosser who also has the potential to be lethal with his free kicks. With a player like Porto's Miguel Layun also providing well-timed crosses from the left side of the pitch, it would have been plenty of fun to watch those two trade numerous long passes into the opposition's 18-yard-box for El Tri.

Although you could point to the backup role that he has had for Pachuca in recent matches, Lopez will surely be able to sneak back into the starting XI after a busy summer that included time with Mexico's Olympic roster this month.

Alejandro Palacios, Pumas

The 35-year-old from Pumas is easily one of the most polarizing figures in the Liga MX. After appearing more ready for retirement than national-team relevance early last year, the veteran goalkeeper has since been able to find a second wind in his career with numerous highlight-worthy saves for the Mexico City club.

With the consistency that he has shown, Palacios is arguably one of the more reliable Mexican goalkeepers today. While it is a stretch to say that he is worthy of getting a start over Alfredo Talavera or Guillermo Ochoa, the case could be made that he has looked better than El Tri's third option in net, Jose de Jesus Corona.

Javier Eduardo Lopez, Chivas

It's a bit surprising that Osorio decided to call-up Peña, who is currently riding the bench with Chivas, instead of an intriguing option like Lopez for El Tri. The 21-year-old, who is also known as Chofis, has shown plenty of raw talent in his starting role at Chivas this season, becoming one of the more exciting young Mexican names in the league.

As Chofis seems to gains a significant amount of confidence with each passing game, it would have been thrilling to see the attacking midfielder given some time for the national team. He has racked up three assists in his last two matches and appears hungry for much more. With his creativity, speed and passing abilities, the youngster could have thrived as one of the two attacking midfielders in a 4-3-3 formation for Mexico.

Erick Gutierrez, Pachuca

One of the few bright spots from Mexico's embarrassing run in the Olympics. After Gutierrez scored four goals against Fiji in the group stage of the competition, one could have assumed that his tally during the 5-1 win would have been enough to secure a spot in the senior national team.

Instead, after returning from the Olympics and immediately regaining an important starting role with Pachuca, the 21-year-old was left out of Osorio's recent roster. But Gutierrez is in need of a bigger challenge, and he is well rounded enough to adapt to any of the Mexico manager's formation changes in the midfield.

With the noise that he has been making with Pachuca since 2013, the promising youngster might even gain minutes with a European club before he is able to take the field for El Tri's senior national team.

Giovani Dos Santos, L.A. Galaxy

Should Osorio give another chance to dos Santos? Should dos Santos give another chance to Osorio? Although it's still not clear who turned down whom before the summer's Copa America, the two upcoming matches would have been a perfect opportunity for the second striker/winger to revisit the manager.

Given dos Santos has more than 90 appearances for the national team, it might be surprising for some to hear that he is still just 27 years old. Given time to work with Osorio and the rest of El Tri's rising stars, the highly talented attacker could have been on his way to helping Mexico regain success after the embarrassing exit from the Copa America.

The former Barcelona player has an immense amount of agility and dribbling capabilities, and he should still be an option for Osorio to consider for the future.

Notes from Week 7 of the Liga MX

• Speaking of Chofis, the midfielder was superb during Chivas' 3-0 Clasico Nacional victory over America on Saturday night. While teammate Isaac Brizuela had two goals and an assist, Chofis finished the evening with two assists for Los Rojiblancos. As for America, the loss was a gutting result at home during the club's 100th anniversary season.

• Xolos have found themselves in first place for another consecutive week. After a first-half goal from Gabriel Hauche, Tijuana maintained a narrow 1-0 victory over the visiting Pumas. Manager Miguel "Piojo" Herrera and his roster are so far undefeated at home.

• After taking charge of Santos Laguna earlier this month, manager Jose Manuel "Chepo" de la Torre has secured his first victory with the team. Thanks to a last-second goal from Jonathan Rodriguez, Los Guerreros were able to defeat Leon 1-0 on Sunday night.

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