Santiago Giménez Opens Up About Being Left Out of the Mexican National Team for Qatar 2022
Santiago Giménez, the Feyenoord forward, recently revealed details of conversations he had with former Mexican National Team coach Gerardo Martino regarding his chances of making the squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Despite high hopes and encouragement from Martino, Giménez was ultimately left out of the final roster for the tournament.
During an interview on the program ‘Hugo Sánchez Presenta’, Giménez shared that Martino had once told him that he was in the World Cup and should remain on the final list for Qatar 2022, leaving the decision in his hands. However, as the tournament approached, Giménez was left off the list, a decision that he found “sad” and difficult to accept.
“I remember one time he told me, ‘today you are above that striker, today you are inside and it depends on you’, after that talk I started to do things well, but in the end he left me out. I have nothing against Tata, on the contrary, I am grateful because he gave me confidence when I was 19 years old, he took me to adulthood, I have no resentment towards him,” said Giménez.
Despite being considered the strongest Mexican attacker before the World Cup, with standout performances in the Dutch league and Liga MX, Giménez was surprised and disappointed to be excluded from the squad. Martino cited Giménez’s limited playing minutes as the reason for his omission, stating that although he scored goals, he played few minutes.
“I am very happy for the leap he has made, sometimes the explanation is the one that is least true to reality, he is a goalscorer in the Europa League, but he has few minutes, from time to time, you have to look beyond the goals. When no one was thinking about him, at the end of last year, we understood that he was going to fight for a place, clash with the hierarchy and with the moment of other number nines,” Martino explained before the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Despite the disappointment, Giménez remains positive and is determined to focus on his future in the sport, with hopes of continuing to excel and earn a place in the national team in the future.