here's my Gold Cup preview ... won't be posting picks here but would suggest going as heavy as possible on, well, nah. I'll let the wannabe pro soccer gamblerer's on the forum (you know who you are) actually post their picks before matches start then comment around HT
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Group A (FIFA Rank/ELO Rank):
Costa Rica 30/20
Jamaica 65/50
Canada 92/60
El Salvador 90/81
Costa Rica - brought a really nice squad to USA but their manager, Kenton, flat out said he does not care about the Gold Cup and will mostly uses reserves to see who will earn a spot on the World Cup qualifier against Honduras. Sort of a pity since I was hoping to earn nice money on CR after seeing the roster coming to USA, but I guess it's more of a vacation for them than anything else.
Jamaica - The big names are here like Ricketts, Goodison, Gardner, and Fuller but many local players invited, 12 in all. Omar Cummings in great form with Colorado and Dane Richards playing well for RBNY so really speedy front line. Their keeper is having a terrific year for the Galaxy so I wouldn't be surprised to see the Jamaican team advance beyond group stage. Their key match is day 1 vs Canada
Canada - not a bad selection of players here with most of their Europeans in the lineup. Julian de Guzman may be the best player in the competition this year while Gbeke, Jakovic, Harmse, and Johnson are MLS/USL guys in top form and in middle of season. Other than De Rosario and Serioux there's not much missing from Canada so we can really call this their A squad. After their humiliating World Cup qualifying campaign they can save face with a long Gold Cup run.
El Salvador - the major names are here like Pacheco (RBNY) and Quintanilla but largely made up of local players from Firpo and Aguila. They are a tragic traveller so I wouldn't expect much from them, especially not from a group with CR, Canada, and Jamaica.
Group B:
USA 12/11
Honduras 39/35
Grenada 88/135
Haiti 120/110
USA - if not for the fact that the USA simply does not lose to CONCACAF teams on home soil, I really don't see how they win this competition. This would be something like C team with 16 players having 5 or less caps and 5 midfielders with 0 caps, with only 4 players from Gold Cup (2 never saw the field). The keeper will either be Perkins or Robles, something around our 6th-8th best keepers in the system. Defensively, Conrad is good but slow, Chernundolo probably still injured, Heaps slow, marshall OK, Parkhurst is good, and Pearce average. I love that Stuart Holden, Logan Pause, and Robbie Rogers get a spot but the rest of midfield, besides Brad Evans, simply don't deserve to be here. Up front is not terrible with Ching, Cooper, Davies, Adu, and Quaranta. Probable finalist since the major tests (CR and Honduras) are not taking this seriously.
Honduras - another team not taking the cup seriously, sending basically all reserves. Main players like Guevara, Pavon, and Suazo not here and really just 2-3 main players in lineup. It is made up of 6 players from Marathon, 4 from Real Espana, 3 each from Olimpia and Motagua so they will still be decent as players play with, and against, each other every week. The only foreigners added were Roger Espinoza (KC Wizards) and Carlos Costly (Belchatow).
Grenada - I don't know much about this squad but they've always impressed when I've seen them play. Their two major stars, Jason Roberts (Blackburn) and Shalrie Joseph (NE Revs) are here but rest of team is basically local guys except for a few English D1 and D2 players. Still the local guys went out and nearly won the Caribbean Cup, beating T&T, Cuba and Barbados before losing to Jamaica in the finals. They drew the short straw though, having to play the USA on Independence Day but after that match, this could be a team to play on, especially if Joseph's knee is OK.
UPDATE: This morning Shalrie Joseph was ruled out of Gold Cup with his knee injury according to concacaf. I would guess he is 100% out for USA and then they'll evaluate
Haiti - just a bad team overall. Most of regulars are here with a few exceptions but other than a few USL names and Portuguese players there is no talent. They haven't won a match since beating Cuba in the Caribbean Cup in Decemberand have just won one game in last 16 overall, dating back a full year. They can't field a whole lot better side than they will during this cup but it's not saying a lot either.
Group C:
Mexico 33/35
Panama 69/67
Guadeloupe NA/91
Nicaragua 142/176
Mexico - placed in a group with horrendous Nicaragua and a less than A squad of Guadeloupe certainly insures Mexico a pass through group stages. They've sent a real decent squad with mostly younger players like Giovani Dos Santos, Vela, Magallon, and Ochoa. No idea why Omar Bravo is on the squad other than he's back playing locally and it fits his schedule, but this is certainly a strong enough team that will make semifinals and should be playing USA in Gold Cup final. Some might calls his a "B" team but it's actually more of a collection of the NOW in Mexican football, not the past with guys like Marquez. I think it's a good team of mostly Mexican league players but with superstars Giovani and Vela in attack.
Panama - after winning Uncaf nations cup for first time Panama think they have a shot at a long tourney run. I'd disagree, since I think Panamanian football stinks, but at least they've send their best players like Gomez (Beleneses), Perez (Pachuca), and Tejada (Milionarios).
Guadeloupe - not playing with best squad but do have players from minor Euro clubs like Dijon, Reims, Cardiff, Amiens, Nantes, Dundee, Utrecht, and Zurich. Many Euro clubs would not allow their players to play in this tourney so Guadeloupe pretty weak team, maybe weakest of all but Nicaragua. No FIFA ranking as they recognize Guadeloupe as a part of France which has hurt this squad as players afraid to commit to this club.
Nicaragua - Actually never thought I'd be alive when Nicaragua qualified to Gold Cup but here they are. They made a miracle win in UNCAF over Guatemala to grab 5th place to secure their spot, and that was their first win of any kind since 2004! Previously they had been 0-1-15 against Guatemala so I can't stress how unreal that win was. Of course, any match they don't lose by 2 goals will be a success in this tournament. <!-- google_ad_section_end -->
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Group A (FIFA Rank/ELO Rank):
Costa Rica 30/20
Jamaica 65/50
Canada 92/60
El Salvador 90/81
Costa Rica - brought a really nice squad to USA but their manager, Kenton, flat out said he does not care about the Gold Cup and will mostly uses reserves to see who will earn a spot on the World Cup qualifier against Honduras. Sort of a pity since I was hoping to earn nice money on CR after seeing the roster coming to USA, but I guess it's more of a vacation for them than anything else.
Jamaica - The big names are here like Ricketts, Goodison, Gardner, and Fuller but many local players invited, 12 in all. Omar Cummings in great form with Colorado and Dane Richards playing well for RBNY so really speedy front line. Their keeper is having a terrific year for the Galaxy so I wouldn't be surprised to see the Jamaican team advance beyond group stage. Their key match is day 1 vs Canada
Canada - not a bad selection of players here with most of their Europeans in the lineup. Julian de Guzman may be the best player in the competition this year while Gbeke, Jakovic, Harmse, and Johnson are MLS/USL guys in top form and in middle of season. Other than De Rosario and Serioux there's not much missing from Canada so we can really call this their A squad. After their humiliating World Cup qualifying campaign they can save face with a long Gold Cup run.
El Salvador - the major names are here like Pacheco (RBNY) and Quintanilla but largely made up of local players from Firpo and Aguila. They are a tragic traveller so I wouldn't expect much from them, especially not from a group with CR, Canada, and Jamaica.
Group B:
USA 12/11
Honduras 39/35
Grenada 88/135
Haiti 120/110
USA - if not for the fact that the USA simply does not lose to CONCACAF teams on home soil, I really don't see how they win this competition. This would be something like C team with 16 players having 5 or less caps and 5 midfielders with 0 caps, with only 4 players from Gold Cup (2 never saw the field). The keeper will either be Perkins or Robles, something around our 6th-8th best keepers in the system. Defensively, Conrad is good but slow, Chernundolo probably still injured, Heaps slow, marshall OK, Parkhurst is good, and Pearce average. I love that Stuart Holden, Logan Pause, and Robbie Rogers get a spot but the rest of midfield, besides Brad Evans, simply don't deserve to be here. Up front is not terrible with Ching, Cooper, Davies, Adu, and Quaranta. Probable finalist since the major tests (CR and Honduras) are not taking this seriously.
Honduras - another team not taking the cup seriously, sending basically all reserves. Main players like Guevara, Pavon, and Suazo not here and really just 2-3 main players in lineup. It is made up of 6 players from Marathon, 4 from Real Espana, 3 each from Olimpia and Motagua so they will still be decent as players play with, and against, each other every week. The only foreigners added were Roger Espinoza (KC Wizards) and Carlos Costly (Belchatow).
Grenada - I don't know much about this squad but they've always impressed when I've seen them play. Their two major stars, Jason Roberts (Blackburn) and Shalrie Joseph (NE Revs) are here but rest of team is basically local guys except for a few English D1 and D2 players. Still the local guys went out and nearly won the Caribbean Cup, beating T&T, Cuba and Barbados before losing to Jamaica in the finals. They drew the short straw though, having to play the USA on Independence Day but after that match, this could be a team to play on, especially if Joseph's knee is OK.
UPDATE: This morning Shalrie Joseph was ruled out of Gold Cup with his knee injury according to concacaf. I would guess he is 100% out for USA and then they'll evaluate
Haiti - just a bad team overall. Most of regulars are here with a few exceptions but other than a few USL names and Portuguese players there is no talent. They haven't won a match since beating Cuba in the Caribbean Cup in Decemberand have just won one game in last 16 overall, dating back a full year. They can't field a whole lot better side than they will during this cup but it's not saying a lot either.
Group C:
Mexico 33/35
Panama 69/67
Guadeloupe NA/91
Nicaragua 142/176
Mexico - placed in a group with horrendous Nicaragua and a less than A squad of Guadeloupe certainly insures Mexico a pass through group stages. They've sent a real decent squad with mostly younger players like Giovani Dos Santos, Vela, Magallon, and Ochoa. No idea why Omar Bravo is on the squad other than he's back playing locally and it fits his schedule, but this is certainly a strong enough team that will make semifinals and should be playing USA in Gold Cup final. Some might calls his a "B" team but it's actually more of a collection of the NOW in Mexican football, not the past with guys like Marquez. I think it's a good team of mostly Mexican league players but with superstars Giovani and Vela in attack.
Panama - after winning Uncaf nations cup for first time Panama think they have a shot at a long tourney run. I'd disagree, since I think Panamanian football stinks, but at least they've send their best players like Gomez (Beleneses), Perez (Pachuca), and Tejada (Milionarios).
Guadeloupe - not playing with best squad but do have players from minor Euro clubs like Dijon, Reims, Cardiff, Amiens, Nantes, Dundee, Utrecht, and Zurich. Many Euro clubs would not allow their players to play in this tourney so Guadeloupe pretty weak team, maybe weakest of all but Nicaragua. No FIFA ranking as they recognize Guadeloupe as a part of France which has hurt this squad as players afraid to commit to this club.
Nicaragua - Actually never thought I'd be alive when Nicaragua qualified to Gold Cup but here they are. They made a miracle win in UNCAF over Guatemala to grab 5th place to secure their spot, and that was their first win of any kind since 2004! Previously they had been 0-1-15 against Guatemala so I can't stress how unreal that win was. Of course, any match they don't lose by 2 goals will be a success in this tournament. <!-- google_ad_section_end -->
