Galvanizing Gold Cup motivation has never been a problem for Mexico.  After all, it has competed in eight of the 13 all-time finals, lifting the trophy on seven occasions.  In the competition’s 2017 edition, though, incentive to repeat as champion will be high.

The Tricolor won three straight titles from 1993-98 and captured two in a row from 2009-11.  An opportunity to join such rarified company will be appealing, especially since many of the 2015 squad presently remain as key contributors.

Remarkably, no Mexico head coach has more than one Gold Cup crown to his credit, so current manager Juan Carlos Osorio will be looking to add his name to a winners’ list that consists of Miguel Mejia Baron (1993), Bora Milutinovic (1996), Manuel Lapuente (1998), Ricardo La Volpe (2003), Javier Aguirre (2009), Jose Manuel de la Torre (2011) and Miguel Herrera (2015).

It promises be a busy summer for Mexico, which will have a pair of World Cup qualifiers at home against Honduras (June 8) and the United States (June 11), and then travel to Russia for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, before taking on another Gold Cup challenge.

Osorio is fortunate to be in charge of a squad that possesses impressive depth.  Three past Gold Cup MVPs -- Giovani Dos Santos (2009), Javier Hernandez (2011) and Andres Guardado (2015) – can always be called upon to strengthen any roster.

A younger player to keep an eye on is Pachuca attacker Hirving Lozano.  The 21-year-old made his senior squad debut in a 2-0 win over Senegal on February 10, 2016.  He was also joint-top scorer at the 2015 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship and Golden Ball winner at the 2015 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship.

Mexico is one of only two teams to participate in every Gold Cup, with the United States being the other.