Mexico will be without star winger Jesus “Tecatito” Corona for an extended period, El Tri manager Juan Carlos Osorio said Saturday. The 24-year-old will miss not only Mexico’s World Cup qualifier against the United States on Sunday (live, 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1) but also the Confederations Cup later this month.
Osorio attributedTecatito’s absence to personal reasons but didn’t elaborate further.
His absence is a considerable blow for Mexico and Osorio, who figured to start the Porto player against the USMNT and beyond. The news comes a day after Osorio also declared Miguel Layun, Rafa Marquez, Andres Guardado and Carlos Salcedo would be out against the Americans.
With Tecatito out, Osorio will likely turn to his bounty of depth at the position, with Hirving Lozano, Giovani dos Santos and Raul Jimenez all capable of filling in. As he loves to experiment, Osorio could even call on Jurgen Damm or Javier Aquino with a switched-up formation.
Osorio isn’t short of options, but odds are he would have liked to be able to stick with Tecatito. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to against the U.S. and in the Confederations Cup.