Gold Cup: Day 4

I guess last night can be called day 4 since its the fourth night of play, even though it was the fifth day since the tournament kicked off.  It was a busy day in the Gold Cup as in the afternoon news came out that no less then 5 of the Mexican players had been ruled out thanks to failed drug tests.  So either the Mexican team have been doping together or something is a bit fishy here, or should I say "chickeny".  (I promise that will be my only failed attempt to make a joke about this). The five players that tested positive for the banned substance were: Francisco Javier Rodriguez, Antonio Naelson, Christian Bermudez, Edgar Duenas, and Guillermo Ochoa.  I am not going to get bogged down in trying to explain why the five players were banned for taking a substance that is often prescribed to help with breathing problems but suffice to say this is not the first time the drug Clenbuterol has caused problems.  Previously Alberto Contandor, a tour de France winner, has come under question for testing positive for the same thing and he is still trying to defend his innocence.  The Mexican Federation has said that they will stand by the players since they believe the failed test was not from doping but rather from the team having eaten some tainted chicken.  I for one doubt that 5 of the Mexicans all decided to take the same drug, for the Gold Cup at that where they were all ready favourites, and that it might just have come from tainted chicken as they suggest.  But enough about that, lets talk about actual games now!

On day 4 the games were all played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and the first match featured Costa Rica who cruised to a 5-0 win in their opener against Cuba taking on El Salvador who were on the wrong end of the same score line against Mexico.  In this match a draw would probably be enough to ensure that Costa Rica would be moving on to the quarterfinals but for El Salvador a win would have been a huge boost to their hopes of moving on as one of the best third placed teams.  The game was very even from start to finish with both teams creating a fair few finishes.  Costa Rica should have taken the lead in the first half after a great counter attack but the finish was straight at the keeper who did will to push the ball over the bar.  A number of other chances in the first half ended up being wasted as shots were being fired right at the keepers and were tame enough that they had no trouble handling them.  It took a real spectacular moment in the closing minutes of the half to finally open the scoring.  El Salvador were awarded a free kick from 20 some odd yards out which was fired home into the top corner by Rodolfo Zeyala.  The shot gave the keeper no chance what so ever as it curled over the wall and dropped in just below the bar.  For me this goal has to be the early favourite for goal of the tournament and it gave El Salvador the half time lead.

The second half was once again quite even with both sides getting their chances.  The run of play did begin to slowly favour Costa Rica who were pushing forward in hopes of getting the equalizer.  They appeared to have it in the 69th minute but despite the ball being in the back of the net the goal was ruled out due to offside.  It was the correct call and it kept El Salvador in the lead.  A few mintues later Costa Rica again had a chance to equalize but some terrible finishing saw them miss basically a tap in from 6 yards out.  They would get the breakthrough though in the 90th minute after a long ball was brought down in the box and Randall Brenes slid it past his defender and just out of the keepers reach.  The end result was a 1-1 draw which was probably a fair one as both teams worked hard and it was a fairly even contest.  The point should see Costa Rica move on to the last 8 but now for El Salvador their next match against Cuba is going to be crucial if they are hoping to ensure a place as one of the best third place teams.

In the second game of the night we had Cuba, who gave up 5 goals in their opener, taking on Mexico, who scored 5 goals in their opener.  It looked like we were in for a lot of goals in this one if Mexico could overcome the drama from earlier in the day.  The good news was that the doping suspensions did nothing to lessen the potent attack of Mexico which was led by Javier Hernandez and Gio Dos Santos.  In the early exchanges of the game it looked like the doping scandals might have had some impact on Mexico as they struggled to get the ball rolling.  They were creating a fair few chances and firing all kinds of shots towards the goal but the first half hour went by without a goal.  Mexican fans could be reassured by the fact that in recent Gold Cups the team has been doing most of its damage in the second half including all 10 of their goals in the previous 2 games.  They would get a breakthrough in the first half this time though as Chicharito netter his fourth goal of the tournament already as he rose up to head one home in the 36th minute.

In the second half of the game it looked like Mexico found another gear and Cuba had no answers for it. The chances quickly started to turn into goals around the hour mark and the route was suddenly on.  When this Mexican attack starts flying they are almost impossible to stop as they get down the field so fast and have a handful of players who can finish well.  Dos Santos made it 2-0 in the 60th minute with a  clever little flick to convert the low cross, the De Nigris got the tap in at the end of a great move to make it 3-0 shortly after he had been brought into the game.   Dos Santos would get his second on 67 minutes as he brought down a cross in the centre of the box and was given all the time in the world to slot the ball into the far side of the net.  Not to be outdone Chicharito popped up in the box to slot home another cross for his second goal of the game despite also wasting a number of chances.  So in just under 15 minutes Mexico had ballooned their lead out to 5-0 and from there they basically just cruised to the end.  It was third straight match, including 2009's final, that Mexico scored 5 goals and once again they did most of their damage in the second half.  The scariest part of all this scoring is that in the first two games Mexico have never really looked like they were going all out and they could still just be getting better.

So with 2 rounds down in Group A it looks like Mexico are going to be the winners of the group with them only needing a point from their last match against Costa Rica to ensure that.  Then barring Costa Rica getting routed by Mexico they should have enough to come through in second place.  El Salvador and Cuba will be battling for third but even if Cuba wins their is no guarantee that getting to third place would see them advance with that -10 goal difference.  A win for El Salvador though would put them in very good shape for getting into the next round despite being at -5 GD.  Either way the last round of play in the group should be an exciting one.