EXTRA EXTRA...The US wins the Gold Cup!!! Hohummm

So the US mens national soccer team won their 5th Gold Cup title yesterday, defeating surprise finalist Panama, 1-0. When is the ticker tape parade? Cover of the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and Time? Okay Okay, I am being a tad harsh. Yes I am a total Euro-snob when it comes to football. I always giggle when I hear the World Cup being called the European Cup, but with Argentina and Brazil. Of course I am also not as football ignorant as I just came across. The international game has benefit with the rise of African nations, such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon to name a few. As well as the rise of Asian powers such as South Korea, Japan and Australia. And, the game has benefited from seeing the richest country in the world - the United States - start to put a solid side out for World Cups and other international matches. We should also start seeing nations such as Iraq making more noise in international venues. All this is good for the international game. But back to the Gold Cup.

Reason why I am saying hohummm...is that it has become clear that nations like the United States and Mexico have outgrown the Gold Cup. And really have outgrown the CONCACAF. That is my real ramble. I have written about this before, but after this Gold Cup finals it only reinforces my thinking about the US and Mexico being part of the Gold Cup. I realize that you play the conference you are in. But look to the example of Australia, who realized they had outgrown the Oceania region and moved into Asia. Australia was finding some success in football, getting to World Cups and having aspirations of getting beyond the group stages. However, the nation recognized that only in getting a more challenging region could they grow as a team that could do better at the World Cup.

Could the US and Mexico benefit from changing regions...say join CONEMBOL region.

Think about the celebration after beating Brazil!

Okay okay, I know what fans of the US and Mexico will say...why head to tough region when they are quasi guaranteed a spot at the World Cup by staying with CONCACAF! I mean seriously...the top three nations make it and the fourth plays the first place team from Oceania! But think about the following, how much better for the overall US and Mexican teams being forced to play high pressure games against Brazil or Argentina...going to Uruguay would be better than a match in Jamaica! I know that the US plays some intense games like away to Guatemala, but not sure that is as intense as away to the South American nations. Granted the US and Mexico would not longer be guaranteed a spot at the World Cup, but cutting their teeth on these matches would better in the long run. Of course FIFA would have to redistribute the qualifying spots between CONEMBOL and CONCACAF.

Finally, imagine the benefit for the US and Mexico to play regularly in the Copa America rather than the Gold Cup! Having to play tournaments with the likes of Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile etc rather than Panama and Costa Rica will be a much greater challenge.

I know you have to play the regional tournaments you find yourself in and a title is a title...crap if Les Bleus could win a trophy on a regular basis I would be happy! Well we did win the U20 World Cup!! But for the United States and Mexico to real grow as national teams they need to test themselves with a real qualifying campaign. It will probably never happen...but something that would be great to see. Think about the excitement of hosting Brazil in Columbus for a World Cup qualifier, or seeing Messi and Argentina coming to New York for a qualifier!

Gold Cup musings...US needs to get to Copa America

So the Gold Cup final was this past weekend, I had wanted to lay down some key strokes and give some thoughts on the finals earlier, but work sometimes gets in the way of my musing. Better late than never! For those of you that did not watch or do not know what the Gold Cup is, a quick recap.

This is the CONCACAF football championships, it is held every 2 years (which minimizes the title in my opinion) and the winner gets to go to the Confederation Cup the following year (assuming the Gold Cup version is held prior to the World Cup). Recently the finals have been another opportunity to see a US v Mexico match and to once again watch the game played on US soil in front of a predominately Mexican crowd! That was the case again this finals edition in Pasadena.

The game itself was actually exciting, the US going up early 2-0 only to concede 4 straight goals. Granted Dempsey smashed a shot off the cross bar when the US was trailing 3-2, had that goal gone in things might have turned out very differently. Both teams also sent most of their A side players - Donovan, Dempsey, Bradley, Howard et al for the US, Chicharito, Dos Santos, Marquez et al for El Tri. Mexico did expose that the US does a poor job with in game management, remember last Confederation Cup final when the US had a 2-0 lead on the Brazilians? The US continued to play a more wide open game after being up 2-0 and ended up paying for it, as Mexico's speed and offensive talent exploited the space. Eventually finding their way to a 4-2 victory...including a wonder goal from former Barcelona player Dos Santos:



But this post is not about the game itself, but about the value of the Gold Cup. What struck me was the reaction from many of the US players and pundits post game, it was not about the fact they lost a title or lost to hated rival Mexico...but that they cannot go to Brazil next summer for the Confederation Cup. Hmmmm interesting. I do not think I hear the losing team in the Euros say "shucks, we lost the title and now we cannot go to the Confederations Cup." To me this is indicative of what could be holding back the development of US Soccer - regular competitive games.

The reality for the US is that they have graduated, 20 years ago, playing in CONCACAF was good for the US. They had a chance to get to the World Cup, played smaller nations that were more passionate for football but clearly were trailing in regards to resources. When the US qualified for the 1990 edition of the World Cup in Italy, it was the first time in 40 years, they attended the global sporting event...promptly getting trounced losing all 3 games. However since then, the US has qualified for every edition since, and reaching two knock out stages and the 1/4 finals in 2002 (some would argue they outplayed eventual runner-ups Germany in that game and were it not for a missed hand ball might have played a semi final). That is a good run. But if the United States is serious about being a legitimate threat to go deeper and gasp...maybe even win the trophy...they cannot rely on Gold Cup and Confederation Cup as their "competitive" matches. I discount World Cup qualifiers, why? With 3 direct spots to the World Cup and a fourth that goes to play off, are the US and Mexico ever really in jeopardy of not qualifying? As I have posted in the past, the US needs to get out of their comfort zone if they expect to grow, footballing wise.

Unlike the US, Mexico will head to the Copa America in Argentina, and face some serious competition. El Tri will face, Chile, Peru and Uruguay in their group....much more serious than Panama and Jamaica. European nations are never taking a break, with the World Cup and European Cups every other year there is a constant stream of high charged qualifying matches to reach these tournaments. The US must, if it will not rework its World Cup qualification and why would they, find a way to participate in the Copa America on a regular basis. Since 1993 they have only participate in 3 editions...why has Japan participated??? The US must get into this tournament. The US must add another real tournament to their dance card if they want to grow.

Otherwise the US will be stuck lamenting another lose in the Gold Cup finals and not being able to go to the Confederation Cup...but looking forward to World Cup qualifiers versus Turks & Caicos, Bermuda and El Salvador.

Gold Cup Finals, a tale of two teams...and halves

Ouch, 5-0 .... what else can you say? Mexico finally beat the US on American soil, and got some silverware to boot! So the game was a tale of two halves, the first one seeing two cautious teams probing ending goalless and the second half one where the substitution of one player really swung the game completely on its ear.


Once Mexico brought in their Arsenal star, Vela, the game completely changed. The US had no way of checking Vela let alone the combination of Vela and Dos Santos, the two Mexican stars that first burst on the scene in 2005 when he won the golden boot at the U17 World Cup where Vela led Mexico to the title, beating Brazil in the finals. Both players became hot property for the European big guns - Dos Santos heading to Barcelona and Vela being signed by Wenger. Clearly the Mexican team takes on a whole new dynamic with their European stars.

Vela demonstrated, what I hope he can replicate this season for the Gunners, an uncanny ability to take on defenders, displayed clinical passing, and chipped in with goals. The first 4 goals all had Vela's finger prints on - the second goal Vela completely exploited the left side of the pitch driving the ball into the box completely putting the US defense of their heels. Vela's goal was a nice give and go where he deftly flicked the ball over the US keeper. The fourth goal was a surgical diaganol pass allowing Castro to deftly beating the keeper. Whether it was threading a lethal pass, taking on defenders, or actually scoring the goal, the Arsenal man gave the US fits and the US clearly had no answers for him. The combination with Dos Santos was clearly one that the US could not match. So what to make of this match?



The US sent, as I had stated in a previous entry, their freshman team, this was not even the JV team...however a 5-0 drubbing at the international level is still an embarrassment. This was still an international final and against your heated rival from across the boarder, you would put up a greater fight that what was displayed in the second half. This tees up the upcoming World Cup qualifier in Mexico City where the scene will be very different. Both teams will bring in their Varsity teams...both teams will be looking for the full 3 points.

Mexico will expect to win. Playing at Azteca is not an enviable task for any team, least of all the despised USA who will be facing the 100,000 crazy fans in the stadium. In addition, Mexico will need to win. A victory will bring them to 9 points, 1 point behind second place USA, and will thrust Mexico back into the chase for South Africa. A Mexican draw or loss, would be devastating for their chances to get to South Africa. On the other hand, the US need to look for a result in Mexico. Not only would this make the 5-0 drubbing easier to digest, but after a very strange summer for US soccer - terrible start at the Confed Cup, followed by a rush after beating Spain, then disappointment after outplaying Brazil for 45 minutes, then a nice push to the Gold Cup finals only to end with 5 goals conceded....all the ups and downs would be palatable if the US can return home with a famous win at Azteca.

I doubt the Gold Cup loss will weigh negatively on the US, I think that they will use the 5-0 drubbing as motivation. They realize they did not bring their A Team, and the players will be highly motivated to win back the honor for the red white and blue. While Mexico will use the victory to propel them into the match against the US. They have finally secured a victory on US soil against the Americans. Mentally they must feel that world is starting to right itself, and being able to play at the Mexico City cauldron of the Azteca will only embolden the Mexicans even more to seek back to back victories against the US.

This should make for a great match...and one that counts. Looking forward to the August date!

A recap of the Gold Cup:

Final

Date	Home team	Result/	Away team
26 July	United States	0 - 5	Mexico	View events	More info

Semi Final

Date	Home team	Result/	Away team
23 July	Honduras	0 - 2	United States	View events	More info
	Costa Rica	1 - 1 Pen 3 - 5	Mexico	View events	More info

Quarter Final

Date	Home team	Result/	Away team
18 July	Canada	0 - 1	Honduras	View events	More info
	United States	2 - 1 AET	Panama	View events	More info
19 July	Guadeloupe	1 - 5	Costa Rica	View events	More info
	Mexico	4 - 0	Haiti	View events	More info

Group Stage

Date	Home team	Result/	Away team
3 July	Canada	1 - 0	Jamaica	View events	More info
	Costa Rica	1 - 2	El Salvador	View events	More info
4 July	Honduras	1 - 0	Haiti	View events	More info
	Grenada	0 - 4	United States	View events	More info
5 July	Panama	1 - 2	Guadeloupe	View events	More info
	Nicaragua	0 - 2	Mexico	View events	More info
7 July	Jamaica	0 - 1	Costa Rica	View events	More info
	El Salvador	0 - 1	Canada	View events	More info
8 July	Haiti	2 - 0	Grenada	View events	More info
	United States	2 - 0	Honduras	View events	More info
9 July	Guadeloupe	2 - 0	Nicaragua	View events	More info
	Mexico	1 - 1	Panama	View events	More info
10 July	Costa Rica	2 - 2	Canada	View events	More info
	El Salvador	0 - 1	Jamaica	View events	More info
11 July	United States	2 - 2	Haiti	View events	More info
	Honduras	4 - 0	Grenada	View events	More info
12 July	Panama	4 - 0	Nicaragua	View events	More info
	Mexico	2 - 0	Guadeloupe

Gold Cup Semi Finals....worth staying up for

So I decided last night that rather get much needed rest I would watch the Mexico vs Costa Rica Gold Cup semi final. I had watched part of the earlier semi final between the US and Honduras, which was not the most exciting of matches but still real footie. Anyways, back to El Tri's match that was a very exciting match. There was a saved penalty in the first half, a late goal my Mexico, and an even later goal by Costa Rica to send the match to extra time. Of course it would end in penalty kicks where Arsenal's Vela would kick the winning penalty for El Tri.

Some high lights:



What this sets up is another Mexico vs US match up. Which is what everyone wants to see. This has developed into a great international rivalry, granted very one sided recently (outside of Mexico City). With the World Cup qualifiers about to start up again in 3 weeks for both nations...against one another, in Mexico City.....this game looms very large, for Mexico. El Tri need to get back on the winning track versus their northern neighbors. In addition, Mexico are heading into the match with many of their young guns - Vela and Dos Santos to name a few -while the US is going in with their freshman team! The game is on US soil, but El Tri always travel well, especially in large metropolises such as Chicago or New York.

Both teams will be up for the match, the US' freshman team will want to show Bradley that they can perform in a heated, intense, international finals against their biggest rival. While Mexico will be desperate for a victory over their northern foes, and to win some hardware. It should prove to be a interesting match.