MIAMI, Florida – He has played just one match thus far with the Mexican National Team, but there is already a spark to the El Tricolor attack when FW Rogelio Funes Mori is on the field.
The Argentina-born striker wore the Mexico jersey for the first time in Saturday’s friendly versus Nigeria in Los Angeles, California, in which Funes Mori opened the scoring in the fourth minute of play by stabbing home a cross as part of Mexico’s 4-0 victory.
The emergence of Funes Mori has taken on a greater importance of late with the absence of talismanic striker Raul Jimenez. The 30-year-old Jimenez, who was Mexico’s leading scorer in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup with five goals, will miss the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup due to injury.
While there has been plenty of talk as to whom will be able to fill the large scoring boots of Jimenez, Funes Mori has come on the scene and is poised to supply Mexico with plenty of goal-scoring fireworks during the Gold Cup.
Excelling in Concacaf competition would be nothing new for Funes Mori. The 30-year-old joined Liga MX side Monterrey in 2015 and has appeared in 12 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League matches for Rayados in that period, including scoring two goals in seven appearances in helping Monterrey win the title in the 2019 edition.
Now as a member of the Mexican National Team, Funes Mori could be the key ingredient for Head Coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino’s quest to win a second straight Gold Cup title.
“He is a footballer that plays the center forward position and we see in Monterrey that he participates a lot in offensive plays, so not only is he is a number nine who scores goals, but he participates a lot,” said Martino in his post-match press conference.
“Tonight, he did it in his first match after just getting to know his teammates. We saw him linking up well, so we are happy and calm about his goal,” concluded Martino.
With Mexico now turning their attention to their Gold Cup opener on Saturday, the opportunity will be there for Funes Mori to become the latest El Tricolor hero.
