One of the captains of the Mexican National Team’s locker room spoke about a particular situation that happened during the last World Cup in Qatar 2022.
The midfielder of the Mexican National Team, Edsón Álvarez confessed that Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino ignored him ahead of the match against Argentina, even though they had forged a good relationship in the months before Qatar 2022.
“In the World Cup I didn’t feel like an undisputed starter, but I felt that I had a good chance of playing. In the game against Poland, everything was even going well, the relationship with him was the same as always. The game against Argentina arrives and he pretended that I was a stranger, as if he had never seen me play. I didn’t start and I didn’t play,” commented Edson Alvarez in an interview with Hot TV.
Edson Alvarez is one of the most regular Mexican players in European football, and at that time he was a starter for Ajax in the Netherlands, so he was expected to play in the match against Argentina in the group stage of Qatar 2022. Despite his good level, the footballer was not even considered for a change.
“I am grateful, at some point I had a great relationship with ‘Tata’. A relationship in which he came with me, we chatted, we shared ideas. He is a person who really likes to talk about football and was very interested in the system of Ajax, we shared many things,” commented the now Ajax footballer who plays for West Ham in England.
In the Qatar World Cup 2022, Mexico was eliminated in the group stage after drawing with Poland, losing against Argentina, and beating Saudi Arabia. The team led by Gerardo Martino had its worst performance since 1978, as it had become a custom for the Mexican representative to always overcome the group stage.
Currently, the Mexican team is under the command of Jaime Lozano and Edson Álvarez is considered one of the captains of the representative team.