Defender Carlos Salcido was a surprise inclusion in Mexico’s 23-man squad for next month’s World Cup named by coach Miguel Herrera on Friday.
The group will be captained by Leon defender Rafael Marquez who is going to his fourth successive finals after first leading the side at the age of 23 in South Korea and Japan in 2002.
The squad also includes European-based forwards Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez (Manchester United) and Giovani Dos Santos (Villarreal).
Herrera, who took charge in October, has never before called up the 34-year-old Salcido and previously said it would be difficult for players outside the group to make it to the finals.
Former PSV Eindhoven and Fulham defender Salcido, who now represents UANL Tigres and was an over-age player in the team that won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, will be going to his third consecutive World Cup.
He last played for the ‘Tri’, as Mexico are known, when they lost 2-0 to the United States in a CONCACAF qualifier on Sept. 10, an away defeat that cost Olympic coach Luis Fernando Tena his job.
