Jesus ‘Tecatito’ Corona will miss the World Cup with Mexico after suffering a broken fibula and a rupture of his ankle ligaments during training with Sevilla.
The Spanish club confirmed the injury, adding that Corona has undergone surgery and is expected to remain on the sidelines for four to five months.
“The player was urgently transferred to FREMAP [hospital] to undergo tests that revealed a broken fibula and ligament damage in his left ankle, according to the club’s medical service,” Sevilla said in a statement.
“Tecatito will undergo an operation this afternoon for the injury by Dr. Najarro at the FREMAP hospital. Initially, this type of injury requires a recovery of between four and five months.”
The news comes as a huge blow to El Tri, as Jesus Corona was expected to lead the team’s attack in Qatar alongside Raul Jimenez and Hirving Lozano. He played an integral part in the World Cup qualifiers, featuring in 13 of Mexico’s 14 matches and starting in 10.
After debuting with the Mexican national team in 2014, and forming a minor part in the team’s 2018 World Cup, this was Corona’s year.
But now, Mexico head coach Gerardo Martino must depend on players he once considered to be reinforcements. Chivas de Guadalajara figure Alexis Vega and Sporting Braga’s Diego Lainez stand as frontrunners for Corona’s position, with distant chatter of Orbelin Pineda stepping in.
The head coach still has four friendlies to determine his ideal starting 11, facing Paraguay, Peru, Sweden and Colombia before heading to Qatar. The team will then kick off the international tournament on November 22 against Poland, before confronting Group C rivals Argentina and Saudi Arabia.
