Rafael Márquez’s long and eventful career could contain one more twist after he was named in Mexico’s preliminary squad for next month’s World Cup.
The former Barcelona defender is considered one of the finest players in Mexican history but it appeared his international career had ended after he was named in an US Treasury investigation into drug trafficking in August 2017. The last of his 143 caps for Mexico came in the 2017 Confederations Cup, just before news of the investigation emerged.
Márquez denies any wrongdoing and has not been convicted of any crimes.
If Márquez does make the final squad for Russia 2018, he will be only the fourth man to feature at five World Cups, joining Germany’s Lothar Matthaus, Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon and fellow Mexican Antonio Carbajal. Márquez has said he intends to retire after the tournament. Teams must submit their final, 23-man squads by 4 June.
A notable absence from the squad was Jonathan Gonzalez, the talented Californian who represented USA at youth level but switched to El Tri in January. Jonathan and Giovani dos Santos of LA Galaxy and Real Betis’ Andres Guardado are both injury concerns but have been included in the preliminary squad.
Mexico face a tough test if they are to reach the knockout round. They open their campaign against world champions Germany before games against South Korea and Sweden.
Mexico’s preliminary 28-man squad for Russia 2018
Goalkeepers Guillermo Ochoa (Standard Liege), Alfredo Talavera (Toluca), Jesus Corona (Cruz Azul)
Defenders Diego Reyes (FC Porto), Carlos Salcedo (Eintracht Frankfurt), Hector Moreno (Real Sociedad), Oswaldo Alanis (Getafe), Nestor Araujo (Santos Laguna), Miguel Layun (Sevilla), Jesus Gallardo (Pumas), Hugo Ayala (Tigres), Edson Alvarez (America)
Midfielders Hector Herrera (Porto), Andres Guardado (Real Betis), Rafa Márquez (Atlas), Jonathan dos Santos (LA Galaxy), Marco Fabian (Eintracht Frankfurt), Jesus Molina (Monterrey), Erick Gutierrez (Pachuca), Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy)
Forwards Javier Aquino (Tigres), Jesus “Tecatito” Corona (Porto), Raul Jimenez (Benfica), Oribe Peralta (Club America), Javier Hernandez (West Ham United), Carlos Vela (LAFC), Hirving Lozano (PSV Eindhoven), Jurgen Damm (Tigres)
