Mexican National Team manager Juan Carlos Osorio has been dealt another blow to his roster and this one might be the one that stings the most. Right back Paul Aguilar was not able to join the team last week and was replaced by Raul Lopez, who earned his first cap on Friday against El Salvador. Last Tuesday, veteran Carlos Esquivel left the team with a leg injury but J.C. Osorio decided not to call up a replacement. With the depth Mexico has and the Osorio’s ability to chance formations and adapt, Mexico were able to make up for the loss of Esquivel.
Now, Mexico will have to go without Jorge Torres Nilo from an ankle injury and flew back to Monterrey instead of joining the team in Honduras. Torres Nilo didn’t play Friday against El Salvador as Luis Fuentes played on the left side of the defense for Mexico to earn his first cap against a weaker side. That decision was most likely made with the idea of saving Torres Nilo for the more difficult trip to Central America against Honduras. What Mexico loses is the best left back playing in Mexico. He's an aggressive thinking left back who likes to join the attack and is a quality passer, and an athletic player who has the length and aerial ability that makes him an ideal fit for the position.
While Miguel Herrera fancied his former club player Miguel Layun on the left side of his five man defense, J.C. Osorio looks to prefer to have Layun on the right side. The loss of Torres Nilo will now leaves a big question for Osorio to answer. Will he move Layun back to the left and place Lopez on the right, or keep Layun on the right and play Fuentes on the right?
If Osorio is worried about having the second cap of either Lopez or Fuentes to be in Honduras, another option is to move captain Andres Guardado to left back, a position he played at times when he was with Valencia and have Javier Aquino or Jesus Corona on the left side of the midfield.
Either way, Osorio now has his first big time decision to make in his first big time game.