What Javier Hernandez Omission from Copa America Reveals of El Tri Ambitions

Mexico's Copa America squad was officially announced on Monday. As expected, Miguel Herrera won't take all the big guns to Chile, but Javier Hernandez and Giovani dos Santos' absences seem to be the most worrisome, at least for the fans.

But make no mistake, there are several reasons why Herrera decided to leave them out from the CONMEBOL competition.

For starters, the Copa America will be played from June 11 to July 4, while the Gold Cup will be held from July 7 to 26.

This situation leaves El Piojo with basically no option but to put together two squads. Traveling from Chile to Chicago, where El Tri will play their first Gold Cup match, would take the footballers at least 12 hours, and that is if they get a private jet.

Realistically, Mexico have a good chance to advance to the knockout stage, then wait and see if they face Group B/C third place (probably Paraguay or Venezuela), or the runner-up from Group C (most likely Brazil or Colombia).

So it seems rather difficult to imagine that El Tri get past the quarterfinals, so we would see them return to Mexican soil on June 25 or 26, just 11 days before the team's Gold Cup debut.

Hernandez and Dos Santos would have to fly in from Europe, and since they are both based in Spain, we are talking about a 13-hour flight (Madrid-Santiago), plus another 12 hours to get to Chicago.

It's a grueling process for any footballer, especially if the hopes aren't very high for the squad.

So Herrera is saving them for the Gold Cup squad and it makes sense.

Not only will they have to make one nine-hour trip (Madrid-Chicago), El Tri need their top players because they are obliged to win this year's CONCACAF championship.

Two years ago, Mexico had a lousy performance in the competition. Since they had already secured a spot in the 2013 Confederations Cup, Jose Manuel de la Torre took a B team to the United States.

Ultimately, Mexico lost to Panama in the semifinals, which put them in a tricky situation for this year's edition. If El Tri want to travel to Russia in 2017 for the Confederations, they have to win the Gold Cup, then defeat the USMNT in a playoff.

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Many think that El Piojo has to take the cream of the crop to the Copa America; ultimately, the competition is far more competitive than the Gold Cup.

The CONMEBOL tournament features four teams inside the FIFA Rankings' top 10: Argentina (2nd), Colombia (4th), Brazil (5th) and Uruguay (8th).

Meanwhile, the top-seeded nations in the CONCACAF competition are Costa Rica (15th), Mexico (22nd) and the USA (28th).

Another reason why Herrera isn't taking Hernandez, Dos Santos, Hector Herrera, Hector Moreno and others to Chile is because Mexico must play with their top team in the Gold Cup because El Tri is part of CONCACAF.

They have played nine times in the CONMEBOL tournament as an invited nation. Actually, Mexico hold the record for most appearances as a guest, with nine.

The Copa America squad may not be as strong as the Gold Cup one (which is yet to be announced), but at least it's competitive, different from the one Luis Fernando Tena took to the 2011 edition that lost all its matches.

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