Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez's spell away from the Mexico national team was extended once again, with national team coach Tata Martino opting to leave him off the team's roster for its upcoming Concacaf Nations League Finals. However, Martino is not calling time on the LA Galaxy forward's time with the national team just yet.
Speaking to media following the announcement of the latest MexTour fixture that will see Mexico take on Nigeria at the LA Coliseum on July 3, Martino noted that the team is deep at forward and that was a contributing factor to Chicharito's exclusion. The likes of Napoli's Hirving Lozano and Sporting Kansas City's Alan Pulido made the cut for their upcoming matches, but Martino said that Chicharito has a shot at a return for El Tri.
"Javier isn’t in this list because we went with other central forwards," he said. "There are four central forwards chosen and Javier isn’t there, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be chosen at another time."
Mexico have a busy summer ahead with plenty of opportunities for Chicharito to get back into contention. Following the conclusion of the Concacaf Nations League Finals, Mexico will also take part in the Gold Cup beginning on July 10.
Chicharito is Mexico's leading goal scorer, having scored 52 goals in 109 games. He has not played for the national team since a 3-0 win over the United States in September 2019. The next year and change saw a poor run of form for the forward, first in Spain with Sevilla, where he only played nine matches in the first half of the season and scored once. He then moved to southern California to join the Galaxy, but scored only twice in 12 games in 2020.
The 32-year-old has seen an explosive return to form in 2021, having scored seven goals in five games to start the MLS season.
