The last time Mexican national team coach Tata Martino worked with an MLS scoring leader, he was managing Josef Martínez and Atlanta United to a league title.
That was in December 2018. A month later, he took over the Mexican national team and he hasn’t looked back, losing three times in 28 games and capturing a CONCACAF Gold Cup. And he’s done that without LAFC’s Carlos Vela, the man who eclipsed Martínez’s MLS scoring record, and with little help from the Galaxy’s Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, the league’s current leader in goals.
Vela repeatedly has said he’s no longer interested in playing for the national team, while Hernández was last invited 22 months ago.