Jaime Lozano explains why Santiago Gimenez is not a starter with Mexico's national team

Mexico got a huge 2-0 win against Ghana in a friendly match at Charlotte. However, the big story was the absence of Santiago Gimenez in the starting lineup of new coach Jaime Lozano.

In the last few months, the young forward has been sensational for Feyenoord in the Eredivisie. Nevertheless, one of the most controversial decisions by Lozano is to use him coming from the bench.

Jaime Lozano took over as interim coach in last summer’s Gold Cup. He surprisingly hoisted the trophy and, after the tournament, was officially appointed as the leader of a massive project toward the 2026 World Cup.

It’s important to remember that Mexico will be host alongside the United States and Canada. That’s why, millions of fans are waiting for a new generation of players to emerge following a massive failure at Qatar 2022.

Jaime Lozano with Mexico’s national team (Getty Image)

Why is Santiago Gimenez not playing for Mexico?

For the game between Mexico and Ghana, Jaime Lozano chose Raul Jimenez over Santiago Gimenez and Henry Martin. He was accompanied on attack by Hirving Lozano and Orbelin Pineda. In minute 73′ of the match, Santi replaced Raul as, right now, there’s only place for one ‘9’ in Jaime Lozano’s tactical scheme.

That decision was severely criticized by analysts and fans. Though Jimenez is trying to revamp his career with Fulham, the numbers of Santi are just superb at Feyenoord. This was Lozano’s explanation.

“I brought three great forwards. I made my decision based on the rival and in Raul’s moment. In the last two games he showed it. He scored three goals for us. It’s a nice competition between the two of them.”

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When asked if Santiago Gimenez could be the starter next Tuesday against Germany in Philadelphia, Lozano avoided the question and praised the team’s effort against Ghana.

“We want to do our best in these matches. We want to take wins and also keep growing. We want to take solid steps in this process. We want to build a good team and a great group of people. Certainly we’ll make some changes for waht’s coming against Germany, but I try to move the pieces according to the rivals to promote this competition between them.”