Diego Lainez’ Recovery and Return
With the soccer season starting back, there are of course the national friendly matches. The Mexican National team had their first match taking place September 7th against New Zealand. It was a win for Mexico, a good start for Mexico teams this season. The Liga MX will begin games on the 13th, this Friday. Last season we saw teams like Club America, Monterrey, and Club Tigres getting in the top places in the league.
Club Tigres lost a valuable player towards the end of their regular season to the national friendlies as well as injury. Diego Lainez is a forward for the Tigres with 22 starts last season and three goal, four assists. He was on track to play for the national team, starting in late May. Eventually headed to the COPA championship with the national team as well. Sadly two days before the first match this summer, taking place in Chicago, Lainez injured his ankle. He removed himself from the national and Liga MX to help his recovery.
So, how is Lainez, now? He had all summer to recoup and recover and with the soccer season starting, one may wonder how he healed and how well he will play this season. We got to see a glimpse of his improvement this past Saturday night. Mexico had a match against New Zealand, again, this was a friendly match. Lainez was put in for Santiago Giménez after 61 minutes sitting out. When the 24-year-old got on the field he seemed to be in good health and playing well. Though he did not gain any goals or assists, it was visible he was happy to be back with his team and fans. The fans were wild for him as well.
As a fan, myself, I am more than excited to see him making his return. Before his injury, he was on track for great improvement. I am sure everyone is ready to see it now. The Mexico national team has their next game tonight against Canada at 7:30. There we can see some more of his skill set after his injury. Other players to keep an eye on would be Orbelin Pineda, Julián Quiñones, and Cesar Huerta. Both Huerta and Pineda got a goal for team Mexico. Pineda only five minutes into the match and Huerta next at 53 minutes. This team has some very talented players, it will be interesting to see them all split into their own teams and different leagues.
