Armando 'Hormiga' Gonzalez has faced criticism in Mexico after El Tri's 1-1 draws with Colombia and Peru. The Olympiacos forward has scored just one goal for Mexico.
Rafael Márquez's era at the helm of the Mexican national team has started with two draws. El Tri drew 1-1 against Colombia and later repeated the score against Peru, results that have not fully satisfied fans and have sparked criticism that was not long in coming. The tour is not over yet, as Mexico will have to face the United States and Chile in its next matches.
In the middle of this international break, Olympiacos forward Armando 'Hormiga' Gonzalez has received criticism in his native country.
For his first call-up, Rafael Marquez practically called up the best he had available for the Mexican national team. However, key absences included Julian Quiñones, considered one of the team's standout players, while Raúl Jiménez was left out due to injury. Undoubtedly, these two absences have been felt by El Tri so far in these first matches of the new era.
Raul Jimenez missed these matches due to a muscle injury and, at 35, it seems increasingly difficult to count on him consistently. So far, his possible successors in the position have not responded as expected. 'Hormiga' Gonzalez has scored only one goal since his first call-up and, against Colombia, did not show his best form.
Gonzalez is not alone in this wave of criticism. Santiago Gimenez also didn't deliver his best performance against Peru, and the criticism didn't take long to follow, especially after a disappointing World Cup for the Mexican forward. Given this panorama, Andres Vaca, a TUDN commentator, reflected on social media and wrote: "Life post Raul Jimenez looks difficult."
Jimenez has 48 official goals for the Mexican national team, making him the second-all-time top scorer for El Tri, four goals shy of Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez, who currently leads the list.
Who Will Be Raul Jimenez's Successors?
- Armando Gonzalez: 23 years old, 1 goal with the Mexican national team.
- Santiago Gimenez: 25 years old, 6 goals with the Mexican national team.
- German Berterame: 27 years old, 2 goals with the Mexican national team.
The reality is that both Chicharito Hernandez and now Raul Jimenez have set a very high bar for the Mexican national team's forwards. Both became references in El Tri's attack and players who can score in important moments.
Since 'Hormiga' arrived at Olympiacos, we have received the same feedback from all the experts we have consulted: he needs many goal opportunities to score. He is not the first nor the only forward who works that way, truth be told.
In his games with the Red and Whites, Gonzalez has proven quite intelligent at positioning himself and finding the perfect moment to capitalize and score. We trust that it is a matter of time both for him to break out with Olympiacos and for him to claim the starting spot with Mexico. We will see.n
