Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez will not be involved for Mexico at the 2022 World Cup, El Tri boss Tata Martino has confirmed.
Former Manchester United favourite Hernandez was involved for his country at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 World Cups, scoring in each of the tournaments, but has since fallen out of favour at international level. He won the most recent of his 109 caps back in 2019, and has not featured since leaving Europe for Major League Soccer in January 2020.
The 34-year-old's form for LA Galaxy had seen some call for an international recall. However neither he nor fellow MLS star and national team exile Carlos Vela will be involved in Qatar.
"In the case of Chicharito, we are simply going with other forwards," Martino told the media ahead of Mexico's upcoming games against Peru and Colombia. "We will try to choose the 26 players who are closest to our game.
"We have two [forwards] who can play and two who can't," the former Barcelona boss added. "What I like is that we don't have not enough players.
"Four forwards are not going to go [to Qatar], but as long as they make it difficult for me to choose, I'm very happy about that. Surely there will be talk of who is left out, but the problem will be abundance and not scarcity."
Vela, meanwhile, has not played for his country since the last World Cup. "Carlos Vela told me three and a half years ago that he preferred not to be summoned, that has not changed," Martino said.
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The former Arsenal forward is now playing his club football for Los Angeles FC, along with the likes of Gareth Bale and Giorgio Chiellini. He finished as the top scorer in Major League Soccer in 2019, and has 11 MLS goals to his name this term.
Hernandez, meanwhile, is LA Galaxy's top scorer in the league this term with 15 goals. The two compatriots could yet meat in the end-of-season playoffs, depending on how strongly Galaxy finish their regular season campaign.
The veteran, who scored 59 goals for Man Utd, suggested over the summer that he would be willing to represent his former club for free if they came calling. "If United came for me then I’d say ‘yes, I’ll play for free.’ Of course, you know, I’d do that," he said
“But I also want to be very respectful to my club. I am playing very consistently and in my mind my conviction is all about winning a championship with LA Galaxy. In the future, if things happen then they happen - but in my mind I am 100 percent with LA.”
