Although the United States men’s national team (USMNT) have been characterized by their diversity, only three of the 26 players who will travel to Qatar are Latinos.
These three men are Jesus Ferreira, Cristian Roldan and Gio Reyna, while Mexican-American striker Ricardo Pepi was dropped.
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Why aren’t there more Latinos at USMNT?
The Guardian has tried to answer a question that has been discussed in recent times, about why there are not more Latinos representing the USMNT in Qatar, despite more than 62 million Latinos and Latinas living in the United States.
According to a Telemundo report, there has been a 52 percent growth in interest in football in a country where American football, basketball and baseball dominate the audience figures.
The Guardian interviewed Martin Vasquez, who played for both the US and Mexico national teams in the past.
Vasquez maintains that several Latinos have chosen to represent Mexico over the USMNT.
“It’s individual decisions, and not that the players aren’t given opportunities,” Vasquez said.
Goalkeeper David Ochoa, midfielder Efrain Alvarez and defender Julian Araujo are three players who decided to play for Mexico instead of the United States. However, none of them were even called up by Mexico for the 2022 World Cup.
“They all had dreams of representing the US or Mexico and going to a World Cup,” Vasquez added.
“What influenced me [to switch sides] was the better chance to be taken to a World Cup – on-field opportunity, in other words.”
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