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Gold Cup Thread

My God, what a match that second game was! Mexico in total control with a 2-0 lead, and Trinidad & Tobago score 3 goals in 12 minutes to take the lead, only to have Mexico tie it with 2 minutes left. Then, in stoppage time, Mexico scores on a T&T own goal, only to have T&T come right back and tie it again at the death. Poster above was right--they win the group, and Mexico has to face CR in the quarters.

Like the US' chances against Cuba, obviously, and am glad I bought the tickets for the semifinal at the Georgia Dome next Wednesday.

Do we know which time would be the US game (assuming we advance)? I didn't buy tickets because of that.
 
When will the Mexican fans be banned from all North American matches? Easily the worst fans in all of sports. Good job TnT giving it to them in the end. Here's to Costa Rica KO'ing them!

Agree about the Mexican supporters, terrible. And the fat coach running out to confront the head referee after the game. That game was the best called game I have watched during the Gold Cup. TnT defense is horrible. If that is not shored up, I do not expect them to advance far.
 
That game was incredible. So perfect that TnT buried the last second goal while the Mexican fans were throwing bottles at them.
 
I mean does Mexico not face any kind of sanctions for that deplorable behavior of their fans? Throwing bottles on the field like that while the game is still going on is not only dangerous to the players, but to all spectators as well. They should well be tossed out of the tourney, but that is not going to happen. Either way, what karma that T&T put that goal in at the death. Hope Mexico loses in the quarters. Would serve them right.
 
At last year's World Cup, every time the opposing keeper took a goal kick, the Mexican fans would in unison yell something that, if in English, would force the networks to bleep out the audio. Bob Ley pointed it out, and FIFA "told them to stop", but that was the extent of it.

There was a Mexico game a few years ago in which Landon Donovan got hit with something while setting up for a corner kick just like yesterday's game. Nothing came of it.
 
I could understand if they were in Azteca in a qualifier or friendly. This is a major tourney and there should be no place for that. If concacaf had any balls, they would tell them if it happens in the quarters they will be disqualified. All the other fans seem to be behaving and having fun.
 
Ever since the Mexicans chanted "Osama" in Pasadena against the US in a friendly after 9/11, I have hated them more than anything in this world, a total group of scumbags. I am so glad that they blew a 2-0 lead and that TnT scored in stoppage time so now the scumbags have to play Costa Rica, who's fans are just a notch above the Mexicans. When Jones was gonna take the game tying corner, he looked at the ref and was like, "what do I do now" as he was being pelted with garbage. The American referee failed miserably at controlling that mess, someone could have seriously been hurt and the ref should have stopped the match, but TnT lucked out and scored on exactly the last touch of the match. It is only fitting that CR and Mexico face each other in the quarters because they are easily the worst fans in the world. Heck, the Mexican fans make the Mexican mafia look like Amnesty International. The National Guard is going to be working at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, unless they can get the players off of the pitch and then let the place burn and lock all the exits. That would be the filthiest cloud of black smoke that the world has ever seen. Too bad the game isn't in Atlanta and General Sherman could have been the honorary Marshall or whatever!

I hate the Mexicans so much, that even though Javier Hernandez is a class player and model example of sportsmanship on and off the pitch, I find it extremely hard to root for him. I've seen shitty kids come from good homes, and good kids from shitty homes. Hernandez is a good kid who comes from shitty home.

I went to bed at halftime when it was 1-1 and recorded the game on one of the Spanish speaking stations as Comcast does not have FoxSports2 up here. I wish that I had the game with English speaking commentators, even that Ray Hudson dunce. I am watching the last 10 minutes again and I am sitting here shaking my head as to why the ref did not blow his whistle when the TnT player was getting pelted with garbage. Unbelievable

The US/Cuba match is scheduled for 5:00 EST on Saturday.

Poster above was right--they win the group, and Mexico has to face CR in the quarters.

Ed, so now I am just a "poster above"? It's a good thing that I am hiding all of my steak knives from those Mexican fans!!!!! :confused: Anyway, have fun at the semis! Does your ticket cover both games? If it does and Mexico is playing, be safe, my friend!! We almost went to the US/Honduras and Panama/Haiti matches up here at the Razor in Foxborough, but the timing wasn't right with my FIL being extremely sick and my MIL passing away just a couple of months ago.

Also/anyway, the US just about gets a bye into the semis and then we can hope for Haiti because Jamaica has been playing pretty well the past 6 weeks and could trip up the US. I severely want a US/Mexico final and FIFA bans the Mexican fan base! It would be nice to see CONCACAF make Mexico play in front of an empty stadium the next time the host a couple of non-friendlies, much like Serie A has done with some of the Italian teams who could not control their fans.
 
I'll take the credit, since I called it 5mins into group play :D

LOL, I misread it and thought he was referring to Cuba's win.

I did think of your post this morning when I saw the score was 4-4. I agreed with you partly, thinking that the Scumbag's "A" team would be able to pull it off, but their defense was just horrible and then they couldn't score against Guatemala and were booed off of the pitch!

Tampa (and others), who do you like in the quarters?

Me:
USA (on paper, this is as close to a bye as it gets)
Jamaica (they've been playing some solid ball the past 6 weeks)
TnT (for my favorite Tobagonian, Dwight Yorke and Tampa's good call on TnT taking Group C)
Mexico (as I throw up and will be cheering hard for Costa Rica and harder against Mexico)
 
I'm going USA (with as close to a "B" squad as you'll see starting vs Cuba given what is on the current GC roster), Jamaica, TnT, Costa Rica. I'm like you, Manch...Mexico men's soccer is my most hated team in the entire world of sports. Plus, I think they're very overrated (could be biased). It's going to be hard rooting for Chicharito when he plays with Orlando, but you put it well above.

Jamaica's 2nd string keeper (Ryan Thompson, guy who came in 20mins into the last match due to the starter getting KO'd) is a Univ of Tampa alum, so I'm partial to them. And they might cause the USA the most "issues" of all the quarterfinalists right now given how they're playing.
 
USA (they should be able to sleep walk through their game)
Jamaica (playing well, and I think playing in Copa America really helped them get ready for the Gold Cup)
TnT (they need to fix their back line)
Mexico (I hope this is wrong, but Costa Rica just isn't the same team that was in the WC last summer)
 
Manch, the ticket IS good for both matches, but I have no intention of associating with those people, for the reasons you so eloquently espoused above. Plus, we're taking MARTA to the game, and there ain't no way I'm riding a train with those asshats, win or lose.

If I knew for a fact Mexico was going to lose dos a cero, I'd be mighty tempted though.
 
Starting lineup for the Cuba match...

Guzan
Chandler (ugh)/Gonzalez/Alvarado/Johnson
Zardes/Beckerman/Bradley/Bedoya
Johannsson/Dempsey

Brooks out due to yellow card suspension. Surprised Alvarado got the call over Ream. And somehow Chandler keeps getting the starting spot. At this point, I'd rather Beasley play LB, Johnson at RB. Thankfully this matchup vs Cuba shouldn't be too much of a concern, but if this is the same lineup vs Haiti/Jamaica winner, we'll get absolutely eaten up on the right side, as Zardes doesn't have the most defensive acumen, and Chandler doesn't have any soccer acumen.

Cuba lost their starting striker to defection after their win vs Guatemala. That's 4 players and an asst coach that have bolted since they landed here in the USA.
 
4-0 at halftime. This is a training session.

Corona in for Beckerman (interesting)
Davis in for Chandler (good)
 
That was a pretty arrogant PK for Dempsey, and he's gonna wonder why a Cuban defender is gonna try to take his knee out.
 
Yeah, not a cool take there. He gets his hattrick though later. 6-0 and avoided injury and maybe, just maybe, figured out that Evans > Chandler at RB
 
Bradley, I am sure was playing to the press on that 6th goal, the press has been killing him and his passed was extremely unselfish, BUT, he should have taken the shot, he had a great look at the net and he was lucky that two defenders whiffed at his pass. Dempsey turned lemons into lemonade with that shot using the outside of his right foot (why didn't he shoot lefty? Another Javier Hernandez?).

Like I said earlier, this was as close as a bye that a team could get and the US came away with no injuries and yellow card suspensions.

Agree on Evans being > than Chandler, and what's with the D hooking up for a goal and two assists?
 
I was honestly concerned that the US might choke this game away; now, with tickets for Wednesday, I'm animated and won't get a damn thing done until then. A good time to be a teacher, for sure.
 
That was a pretty arrogant PK for Dempsey, and he's gonna wonder why a Cuban defender is gonna try to take his knee out.
I watch a little bit of soccer but probably not near the amount some of you do. I have never seen a PK right at the keeper before by a pro. It does make sense the keep will guess andl dive one side or the other but to kick right at him takes some ballz but then again we were playing Cuba.
 
I watch a little bit of soccer but probably not near the amount some of you do. I have never seen a PK right at the keeper before by a pro. It does make sense the keep will guess andl dive one side or the other but to kick right at him takes some ballz but then again we were playing Cuba.
One of the freakonomics books had a piece on this. Better odds if you kick straight ahead. However, their premise was that nobody does it because if by chance the keeper doesn't move and makes the stop you look like an idiot.
 
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I watch a little bit of soccer but probably not near the amount some of you do. I have never seen a PK right at the keeper before by a pro. It does make sense the keep will guess andl dive one side or the other but to kick right at him takes some ballz but then again we were playing Cuba.

This happens quite a bit now, because if you watch the keeper, he is actually moving to one side before the ball is even kicked. I think Alexis Sanchez did the same thing that Dempsey did in the Copa finals (Chile was up 3-1 in PK's after 3 rounds), he just chipped it straight ahead. I don't like the idea of just chipping straight ahead like that, the kick is slow enough where if the keeper doesn't commit to one side that strong, he has a chance to stop himself and make a save. Dempsey and Sanchez are world class players where they don't need to perform circus tricks out there. In Dempsey's case, the US was up 4-0 and had the game won and I found the PK kind of arrogant and unnecessary and in Sanchez's situation, the Copa Championship was on the line, his PK clinched the championship and Chile still had another shot to win it if Sanchez missed, but is the shooter's foot comes up short when trying to wedge the ball, the shot is useless, these guys are good enough where they can just pick a corner and nail it.

Attendance last night was short of 40K in a 70K stadium? Pitiful. The US did sell out the 18K and 22K Frisco and KC venues and sold 46K out of the 68K seats in Foxborough. Mexico is averaging just south of 58K in their 3 group matches (54K in Chicago, 63K in Phoenix-just short of a sell out and 59K in Charlotte) and should bring in quite a crowd today at the 82K seat Meadowlands.

Not to get too political, but this tells me that their are a lot of Mexicans living in the US and not just in the south, and they love their football, and they are just as disgusting as any group of fans in the world.
 
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Atlanta had sold 55K of the 70K as of a few days ago. I look for that to shoot up with the US win, and sell out of the Jumping Beans win today.
 
Why are these not being held in Miami at all?

Not sure, I would expect that Miami would bring in bigger crowds from places like Haiti and Jamaica. I do not know, off of the top of my head, the stadium situation for soccer in Miami is.

Also, The US and Mexico are in two of the three groups, and the group games are played as part of a double header, so Groups A and C have the US and Mexico drawing the attendance. That would leave Group B, which consisted of Canada, Jamaica, Costa Rica and El Salvador, with doubleheaders in Toronto, Houston and Carson, CA. Stubhub Stadium, is a 27,000 seat soccer stadium just outside of LA, and I am sure that the Gold Cup committee had figured to do well there, with LA being a huge melting pot. Carson drew 22K while Toronto attracted less than 17K fans. I also believe that the committee felt the same way about Houston as they did LA, that a big hispanic population would draw a big hispanic soccer fan base. Houston had an attendance of 22K. So with Mexico and the US basically accounting for the selection of sites for their respective groups, and the feeling that Canada would draw in Toronto and that LA and Houston would draw the Costa Ricans, Jamaicans and Salvadorians. Attendance sucked in Toronto, and the crowds were smaller than anticipated in both Houston and LA. In hindsight, the Jamaicans possibly could have been a better draw in Miami than the draws in Houston and LA.

The above is my thought process, and I am sure I am off a little, not knowing the stadium situation in Miami, but I hope this helps.
 
http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/...-of-hosting-soccer-at-gillette-stadium-video/

Just read that there are large Costa Rican populations in New Jersey and New York, as well as southern Florida, LA and Lincoln County, NC. The Salvadorians are more populated in LA, San Diego and Washington, D.C. The Jamaicans are spread across many big cities in the US, including LA and South Florida. So with the CR's, Jamaicans and Salvadorians residing in large numbers in LA and south Florida, maybe Miami would have been a better choice over Houston, but Houston was about 100 tickets short of a sellout and Sun Life holds about 65,000, so the committee probably didn't want to see a half empty stadium and that's possibly why Houston was selected over Miami.

I do not have past results of those three teams playing against non-US or non-Mexican teams here in the US, and maybe that was also a factor.

Here is to a link about the thought process of the US playing their first game in Boston (Foxborough).
 
Didn't think about the stadium. With Sun Life going through construction the only place is Marlins Park. Probably wouldn't work.When Sun Life is done they should get a World Cup.
 
Didn't think about the stadium. With Sun Life going through construction the only place is Marlins Park. Probably wouldn't work.When Sun Life is done they should get a World Cup.

Then there you go, and at least I learned something while researching the past 45 minutes!

Also, I just saw a list of cities with interest in hosting the 2016 Copa America Centario and Miami is not listed, but Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville are.
 
This happens quite a bit now, because if you watch the keeper, he is actually moving to one side before the ball is even kicked. I think Alexis Sanchez did the same thing that Dempsey did in the Copa finals (Chile was up 3-1 in PK's after 3 rounds), he just chipped it straight ahead. I don't like the idea of just chipping straight ahead like that, the kick is slow enough where if the keeper doesn't commit to one side that strong, he has a chance to stop himself and make a save. Dempsey and Sanchez are world class players where they don't need to perform circus tricks out there. In Dempsey's case, the US was up 4-0 and had the game won and I found the PK kind of arrogant and unnecessary and in Sanchez's situation, the Copa Championship was on the line, his PK clinched the championship and Chile still had another shot to win it if Sanchez missed, but is the shooter's foot comes up short when trying to wedge the ball, the shot is useless, these guys are good enough where they can just pick a corner and nail it.

Attendance last night was short of 40K in a 70K stadium? Pitiful. The US did sell out the 18K and 22K Frisco and KC venues and sold 46K out of the 68K seats in Foxborough. Mexico is averaging just south of 58K in their 3 group matches (54K in Chicago, 63K in Phoenix-just short of a sell out and 59K in Charlotte) and should bring in quite a crowd today at the 82K seat Meadowlands.

Not to get too political, but this tells me that their are a lot of Mexicans living in the US and not just in the south, and they love their football, and they are just as disgusting as any group of fans in the world.

I was a little surprised by the crowd size in Balitmore for the US match. The commentators made mention of the 90 degree day at 5pm would keep folks away. I would tend to agree with this. I'm glad the GA Dome is indoors.

Overall however the crowds for US matches have been fantastic IMO.
 
Overall however the crowds for US matches have been fantastic IMO.

Yes, that's why playing in front of a sold out 20K crowd in a soccer built stadium is better than playing in front of 35K with a football stadium half empty.
 
Maybe Miami was also a perceived "weather issue" area? Too hot/humid and too high a chance of storms during the match times. My only guess besides the stadium issue.

And you would think a mid-Saturday game for the USMNT should draw in any major city. Maybe Baltimore isn't the best place due to all the issues locally there? I could guarantee you that RayJay would've been packed yesterday, weather be damned. Maybe they were charging too much for the ticket in Baltimore?
 
Don't buy the weather for Miami. It was cooler here yesterday at 5 than it was in Baltimore.
 
Panama beat TnT on PKs. Ugh, so much for my prediction.

Costa Rica and Mexico going to extra time right now. If Costa Rica wins this, the Mexican fans might actually burn the place down
 
Wow. What a horrible call to give Mexico the win. Not sure how the ref calls that at that point in the game.
 
That was such a bad call. Mexico given a gift to the next round. If that call happens in reverse, the fans would be bumrushing the field/ref
 
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