Over 93,000 soccer fans filled the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to watch Mexico and the United States face off in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final. After 90 minutes and 6 goals, it was Mexico that emerged victorious on a 4-2 scoreline.
Despite the end result, it was the United States that scored first in the match, thanks to Michael Bradley:
In the 23rd minute, it was Landon Donovan who picked up the US's second goal:
With an early 2-0 lead, things were looking good for the United States, but then, in the 29th minute, Pablo Barrera put Mexico on the scoreboard:
The United States was unable to maintain its lead going into halftime, with Andrés Guardado getting a goal in the 35th minute:
While the United States started the first half with an early goal, it was Mexico who picked up an early goal in the second half, thanks to Barrera:
The United States was unable to score again, but that didn't stop Giovani Dos Santos from picking up an insurance goal for Mexico:
With this victory, Mexico has earned a spot in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil. Meanwhile, US soccer fans are left wondering if changes will be made, or if the current coaching staff will remain intact as the US looks ahead to World Cup qualifiers.
Wednesday night a sold out crowd of over 70,000 soccer fans was on hand at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas for the semifinals of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, featuring the United States playing Panama and Mexico playing Honduras.
Just last week, the US had lost its first ever Gold Cup group stage match to Panama, so Wednesday featured a rematch between the two sides. On Tuesday, US players said they obviously wanted to win the semifinal match, but it wasn't an issue of revenge. In the end, it was native Texan Clint Dempsey who played the hero for the United States picking up the match's only goal in the 76th minute. Post-match audio from members of the USMNT can be heard in the most recent episode of The Zygo Soccer Report Podcast.
Mexico had been dominating the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup and going into it's Wednesday night match against Honduras it was expected that Mexico would win the match and advance to the final. Honduras, however, chose not to go quietly into that dark night and managed to hold Mexico to a 0-0 scoreline through the end of 90 minutes, sending the match to extra time. In the 92nd minute, Mexico's Jesús De Nigris finally broke the scoring drought, giving El Tri the lead, and ultimately the win. In the 98th minute, Javier "Chicharito" Hernández picked up the insurance goal for Mexico.
On Saturday, the United States and Mexico will meet at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California for the final. In 2009, the US lost to Mexico in the Gold Cup final, but this year a slot in the Confederations Cup is on the line and US has brought it's A team, but will that be enough to get by Mexico?
The United States Men's National Team beat Panama 1-0 in the semifinals of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup at Reliant Stadium on Wednesday night thanks to a goal from Clint Dempsey. As of the posting time, it appears that Mexico will beat Honduras by 2-0 to also advance to the final. Here is raw, and I mean raw, audio from the US side following their victory. The audio includes Clint Dempsey, Bob Bradley, Sunil Gulati, Eric Lichaj, and Freddy Adu.
Mexico, Panama, Honduras, and the United States are all in Houston for the semifinals of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Got some audio today from Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, and Sacha Kljestan after the USMNT's practice at Reliant Stadium, as well as the audio from the entire Bob Bradley and Landon Donovan press conference.
Sunday afternoon at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC, the United States hosted Jamaica and Panama played El Salvador to determine which teams would advance to the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas on Wednesday night.
It was US hoping to get past Jamaica in the matinee match, and get by Jamaica they did thank to goals from Jermaine Jones and Clint Dempsey. Coming into Sunday's match, Jamaica had scored multiple goals while keeping clean sheets in all of its group stage matches. Despite looking dangerous from time to time, Jamaica was unable to score and its keeper, Donovan Ricketts, managed numerous saves, but couldn't stop them all.
RFK Stadium was packed with fans of El Salvador hoping to see their team beat Panama and advance to the semifinals. It was El Salvador that scored first, when Rodolfo Zelaya put the ball in the net in the 77th minute, but it only took 12 minutes for Panama's Luis Tejada to respond with a goal of his own. The match was tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation time, forcing it to be decided on penalty kicks. Panama ends up advancing to the semifinals after beating El Salvador 5-3 on penalty kicks.
Sunday's results mean that the United States and Panama will face each other in a rematch on Wednesday night at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.
It might have been unsaid by Soccer House, but Bob Bradley's job as coach of the US Men's National Team was on the line heading into today's CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals match against Jamaica. Thanks to the following two goals from Jermaine Jones and Clint Dempsey, Bradley has received a stay of execution as USMNT advances to the semifinals in Houston on Wednesday.
The first night of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarterfinals took place on Saturday at The New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey. Costa Rica and Honduras squared off in the night's first match, while Mexico faced Guatemala in the second match.
Honduras picked up the first goal of the night, early in the second half of the first match, thanks to Jerry Bengtson, but the lead didn't last long because Dennis Marshall scored for Costa Rica in the 55nd minute. The match stayed tied at 1-1 through the rest of regular time forcing it to be decided on penalty kicks. Honduras ended up winning on penalties, 4-2.
Early in the second match of the evening it looked like Mexico's hopes of advancing to the semifinals weren't as strong as expected because Carlos Ruiz scored for Guatemala in the 4th minute. Guatemala managed to hold its lead, but a halftime substitution for Mexico paid off as Jesús De Nigris scored in the 48th minute. In the 65th minute it was none other than Javier "Chicharito" Hernández who scored the winning goal for Mexico.
Mexico and Honduras will play each other at Reliant Stadium in Houston on Wednesday night.
Today, the United States will play Jamaica and Panama will face El Salvador.
The Houston Dynamo finally picked up their first win last Saturday, after going 7 matches without a win, when they beat Chivas USA 2-1. On the other hand, the United States National Team has managed to win two of their group stage matches in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, but they've looked unimpressive in the process and have to get past a dangerous Jamaica this Sunday.
Featured music from R.L. Burnside, Kermit Ruffins, Gil Scott-Heron, and The The.
The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup came to end Tuesday night at the new Livestrong Stadium in Kansas City with Canada playing Panama and the United States taking on Guadeloupe.
In the night's first match, Canada took an early lead over Panama in the 61st minute when Dwayne De Rosario converted a penalty kick after being fouled by Eybir Bonaga. Canada managed to hold onto its slim lead for almost 30 minutes, but in stoppage time Luis Tejada picked up a goal for Panama. The 1-1 draw enabled Panama to clinch Group C. Panama will play El Salvador on Sunday night at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
In light of the result in the Canada-Panama match, the United States knew that they could not win the group, but they could advance to the quarterfinals with a win or draw against Guadeloupe. It was Jozy Altidore who proved to be the hero for the United States on Tuesday night when he picked up a long range goal in the 8th minute of the match. Despite numerous chances to pick up more goals, the game ended 1-0 and the United States advanced to the quarterfinals where it will face a strong and dangerous Jamaica at RFK Stadium on Sunday.
While the US and Panama play in the quarterfinals on Sunday night, the quarterfinals actually start on Saturday with Mexico playing Guatemala and Honduras playing Costa Rica at The New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey.
Group B action wrapped up in Harrison, New Jersey on Monday night as Guatemala played Grenada and Honduras faced Jamaica.
Grenada has been giving Cuba a run for its money as the whipping boy for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and Monday was no different as they gave up 4 goals to Guatemala while being unable to score a goal of their own. Guatemala's goals came from Jose Del Aguila in the 15th minute, Marco Pappa in the 21st minute, Carlos Ruiz in the 53rd minute, and Carlos Gallardo in the 58th minute. With its win, Guatemala advance to the quarterfinals.
The second night of the match, Jamaica v. Honduras, only saw one goal scored, but that's the only goal Jamaica needed to maintain its winning streak and advance to the quarterfinals. The goal came in the goal came in the 35th minute and there is some disagreement as to whether the goal was scored by Jamaica's Ryan Johnson, who plays for the San Jose Earthquakes in MLS, or whether it was an own goal off of Noel Valladares.
The Gold Cup's group stage ends Tuesday night in Kansas City as Canada faces a dangerous Panama and the United States seeks redemption against Guadeloupe.
Round three of the group stage, the last round of the group stage, in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup began at Soldier Field in Chicago last night with Mexico facing Costa Rica and El Salvador playing Cuba.
Cuba has proven to be the whipping boy of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, but the little team from the baseball island did manage to score a goal last night thanks to Yenier Márquez who put the ball past the keeper in the 82nd minute. But in the end, it was El Salvador who walked away with a 6-1 victory thanks to goals from Rodolfo Zelaya, William Romero, Mark Blanco, José Alvarez Hernández, and Eliseo Quintanilla.
Coming into Sunday night, Mexico had already qualified for the quarterfinals, but that didn't mean the defending CONCACAF Gold Cup champions were taking it easy against Costa Rica. It was Rafael Márquez who put Mexico on the scoreboard first in the 16th minute, then Andrés Guardado picked up a brace, and finally Pablo Barrera picked up a goal in the 38th minute. By halftime, Mexico lead 4-0. Mexico took a break from scoring in the second half, but Costa Rica finally managed to pick up a goal thanks to Marcos Urena in the 68th minute. In the end, Mexico walked away with a 4-1 victory.
Monday night features Group B action with Guatemala playing Grenada and Honduras facing Jamaica at RedBull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.
Group C wrapped up the second round of Gold Cup group stage matches on Saturday night in Tampa. In the night's opening match, Canada and Guadeloupe were both looking for their first group stage win while the United States and Panama met in the second match with both teams looking for that win that would secure a quarterfinals berth.
The only goal in the Canada-Guadeloupe match came in the 50th minute on a penalty kick that was converted by Dwayne De Rosario. It was De Rosario's 16th international goal. While the Canadian players are happy with the win, it wasn't a convincing win considering Canada played with a man advantage over 85 minutes of the match because Guadeloupe's Jean Luc Lambourde picked up a red card in the 2nd minute after fouling Will Johnson. The win keeps Canada in the mix for advancing to the quarterfinals and they may be helped by the fact that Panama, as detailed below, already qualified and won't have to take Tuesday's match as seriously.
In the hours preceding the United States-Panama match, it was easy to get a sense from US fans on Twitter and Facebook that they considered it a slam dunk win for the United States and that the US would end the night securing a quarterfinals berth. Unfortunately for the United States and its fans, Panama decided it wasn't going to play by that presumed script. Luis Tejada gave the US notice in the 18th minute when he picked up a rebound off of US keeper Tim Howard. It was 2-0 in favor of Panama come halftime thanks to Tim Ream fouling Blas Pérez in the box, giving Panama a penalty kick that was converted by Gabriel Gómez in the 35th minute. The United States wasn't able to get onto the scoreboard until the 67th minute thanks to a Clarence Goodson header. The late goal breathed a certain sense of urgency into the US side, but it was too little too late as they lost a group stage match for the first time in Gold Cup history. The 2-1 victory over the United States secured a quarterfinals spot for Panama.
Group C wraps up group stage play in Kansas City on Tuesday night with Canada playing Panama and the United States playing Guadeloupe.
Friday night's gold cup action featured Group B action with Jamaica facing Guatemala and Grenada playing Honduras in Miami.
In the night's first match, Jamaica picked up a 2-0 victory against Guatemala thanks to a Demar Phillips brace in the second half. With two wins in its first two matches of the tournament, Jamaica has qualified for the quarterfinals and is proving to be the best Caribbean side in the 2011 Gold Cup.
Grenada, another Caribbean team, didn't fair well at all as they lost to Honduras, 7-1. Although Clive Murray picked up a goal for Grenada in the 18th minute, the "Spice Boys" never really had a chance, giving up three goals to Honduras in the first half and another four goals in the second half. Carlos Costly picked up a hat trick for Honduras with other goals coming from Jerry Bengtson, who picked up two, Walter Julián Martínez Ramos, and Alfredo Antonio Mejía Escobar.
Tonight's Gold Cup action takes place in Tampa and features Canada playing Guadeloupe and the United States facing Panama.
Round two of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup began on Thursday night as Group A played in Charlotte, North Carolina, featuring El Salvador versus Costa Rica and Mexico taking on Cuba.
On Sunday night, Costa Rica picked up a 4-0 win against Cuba while El Salvador lost 4-0 to Mexico. Coming off of its loss, El Salvador seemed to be the team with the most to prove on Thursday, and they were the first to score thanks to Rodolfo Zelaya picking up a goal off of a free kick in the 44th minute. El Salvador managed to hold onto its slim one goal lead for over 45 minutes, but in stoppage time, Randall Brenes scored for Costa Rica and ending the match in a 1-1 draw.
The second match of the night featured Mexico and Cuba, and after the opening matches on Sunday, there was an 8 goal gap between the two teams. Considering the mismatch, most people expected Mexico to rest some of its starters against Cuba, but that was before the news broke on Thursday afternoon that five Mexican players had tested positive for clenbuterol, a drug used for fat loss. The five players who tested positive were Guillermo Ochoa, Francisco Rodriguez, Edgar Duenas, Christian Bermudez, and Antonio Naelson. Not surprisingly, Mexico has taken the position that said players ate contaminated meat, most likely chicken; however, Mexico provisionally suspended all five players. In my opinion, it seems unlikely that 5 players on the same team were all taking a substance known to be in violation of the anti-doping rules.
Whether it was the events of the day or an arrogant attitude, Mexico did not begin scoring goals on Cuba as quickly as was expected. But, it was Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez who finally picked up the first goal for Mexico, scoring in the 35th minute. It wasn't until the middle of the second half that Mexico opened the goal floodgates. Giovani Dos Santos made himself relevant again when he scored in the 63rd minute and then Jesús De Nigris, who was subbed on in the 63rd minute, picked up a goal in the 64th minute. Dos Santos picked up his second goal of the night in the 67th minute. Finally, Chicharito picked up his second goal in the 75th minute, and Mexico seemingly imposed its own mercy rule on the match.
CONCACAF officials will meet today, Friday, to determine if Mexico can call up players to replace the suspended players for the remainder of the tournament.
Tonight's Gold Cup action in Miami will feature Jamaica playing Guatemala and Honduras facing Grenada.
Group C finally saw action in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup on Tuesday night in Detroit where Panama faced Guadeloupe and Canada took on its neighbor to the south, the United States.
In the night's first match, Panama dominated early with Blas Pérez picking up a goal in the 28th minute and Luis Tejada picking up a goal in the 31st minute. While Panama did not score again in the first half, they got another boost in the 37th minute when Guadeloupe's Mickael Tacalfred picked up a red card. Panama had to be feeling good about its situation at halftime, but it was a Gabriel Gómez goal in the 56th minute that proved to be the game winner for Panama. Despite being down a man, Guadeloupe managed to battle back picking up two goals thanks to Brice Jovial who scored in the 64th minute and again in the 78th minute.
By the time the second match of the evening started, there were just over 28,000 on hand at Ford Field to see Canada take on the United States. Despite the fact that the Canadian team has been improving in quality over the past few years, they were unable to make any kind of statement against the United States, losing 2-0. The United States' first goal came in the 15th minute from Jozy Altidore, who put the ball into goal off of a rough angle. Clint Dempsey got the insurance goal, off of another tough angle, for the United States in the 61st minute. US keeper Tim Howard kept a clean sheet, but he was only challenged with three shots on goal by Canada. While the United States' recent 4-0 loss to Spain in a friendly on Saturday gave many US soccer fans a scare, it's not surprising that the US's performance against Canada was unaffected by the recent loss, after all, the US went into the Spain match just looking to keep all its players healthy for the Gold Cup, a goal that it accomplished.
Now that all three groups have seen action in this year's Gold Cup, it appears that Group C might be the most competitive group, making the US's victory all that more important as it looks to make it to the final in Pasadena.
Today is a rest day in the tournament with action resuming on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina as Costa Rica faces El Salvador and Cuba will attempt to avoid giving up double digit goals to Mexico.
Tuesday night in the 2011 Gold Cup saw two Caribbean teams, Jamaica and Grenada, and two Central American teams, Honduras and Guatemala, play each other in Group B action at the Home Depot Center in Southern California.
The night's opening match between Jamaica and Grenada continued the one sided, multi goal scoring match that started the tournament in Arlington, Texas on Sunday night. Jamaica managed to keep a clean sheet while scoring four goals, two in each half. Jamaica's goals came from Luton Shelton, Ryan Johnson, Demar Phillips, and Keammer Daley.
The second match in Monday's doubleheader ended in a 0-0 draw between Honduras and Guatemala.
Tonight Panama will play Guadeloupe and the United States will play Canada in Group C action at Ford Field in Detroit.
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