It is currently the international break and the Mexico national team has upcoming friendlies against Costa Rica and Chile. It is not a secret that there are several concerns for El Tri when it comes to the striker position and who can be a consistent player going forward.
Raul Jimenez is living a good moment, but is injury-prone, “Chicharito” is on the decline with West Ham United, Oribe Peralta retired from international duties and the rest are not ready or do not seem good enough. The recent callup featured players like Henry Martin and Angel Zaldivar in the forward department and they are not standouts in the Liga MX.
Some of the best strikers in the Liga MX, were not born in Mexico like Andre-Pierre Gignac and Santos Laguna’s Julio Furch, who is having a breakout season with nine goals in 12 games. Gignac is not an option for the Mexico national team, but Furch is yet to represent his native Argentina and could potentially have a future with the Aztec side.
In a press conference this Wednesday, Furch was asked about the possibility of representing El Tri and he said, “They have never contacted me, I have been over here for four years and I don’t know how the naturalization process works, but if they contacted me I would consider it. It would be a very good option. I see the Argentina national team very distant, maybe they don’t even look at players in Mexico, so looking for another option would be very good for me.”
The Argentine striker was also asked if he would like to represent Mexico and he said, “Yes I would love it.” Furch would only have to be in Mexico for one more year to be naturalized and could be an option for the national team in 2020.
.@ClubSantosEn striker Julio Furch saying today that he'd like to play for @miseleccionmxEN. He's almost completed 4 years in Mex, so would potentially be available in 2020. Would easily make the squad right now, but it's still quite a while off. #eltrieng
— Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) October 10, 2018
However, this is a complicated scenario as with his current form, Furch could receive attention from Europe or a top team in Argentina. There is no telling what can happen in this next year, but the 29-year-old would be a solid option for Mexico with its current lack of attacking options.
Furch has scored 54 goals in the Liga MX with Veracruz and Santos Laguna and is the type of striker that is uncommon with Mexican players. Furch is very strong with an incredible physical presence making him a perfect target man and his distribution is also very impressive as well.
