As you might expect, there will be a lot of words on this site about the Gold Cup, and we will begin by taking a look at each of the four groups. Today we'll preview Group A, headlined by Mexico and also consisting of Canada, Martinique, and Cuba.
Mexico
Mexico are the seven time champions and the most successful team in the region overall, and a full strength El Tri side are surely the best in Concacaf. However, Mexico will be showing up with far from a full strength team, and it may end up costing them their 8th title. Hector Herrera, Carlos Vela, and Chicharito have all opted to sit out. Hirving Lozano is injured, as is Miguel Layun. Tecatito Corona won't be there either. And the young stars, Diego Lainez and Juan Jose Macias, just took part in Mexico's miserable U-20 World Cup campaign and will be unavailable as well. AND Marco Fabian has announced he's doubtful.
On the flip side, Raul Jimenez will be there, and he's just finished up a career season in the Premier League with Wolves. Rodolfo Pizarro has had a resurgence and will be asked to play right behind him. Guardado, Jonathan Dos Santos, and Erick Gutierrez will need to blend together in the midfield, which may not be the smoothest mixture.
Overall, a weak Mexico is still Mexico, and if you're reading this you probably know the drill by now. Even without most of their Europe based players, a Liga MX heavy squad is more than enough to win the Gold Cup, and they shouldn't be seriously threatened by anyone beyond Costa Rica and the US. Of course, they were knocked out by Jamaica last time around, so maybe I'm a fool.
Overall, a weak Mexico is still Mexico, and if you're reading this you probably know the drill by now. Even without most of their Europe based players, a Liga MX heavy squad is more than enough to win the Gold Cup, and they shouldn't be seriously threatened by anyone beyond Costa Rica and the US. Of course, they were knocked out by Jamaica last time around, so maybe I'm a fool.
Canada
Confession time. I am absolutely in love with this Canada team. After many years of being embarrassingly bad, the northerners have been quietly building a respectable squad and this tournament is a chance for them to demonstrate that.
From front to back this team is filled with talent, but they particularly excel at the forward position, with Cyle Larin (Besiktas), veteran Junior Hoilett (Cardiff), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Lucas Cavallini (Puebla) and Jonathan David (Gent) all being very capable goalscorers. Milan Borjan between the posts earned a lot of acclaim when his Red Star Belgrade team beat Liverpool in the Champions League last fall. Defensively they are a bit lacking, but Jonathan Osorio and Atiba Hutchinson can tie the midfield together and help out the back line if need be.
From front to back this team is filled with talent, but they particularly excel at the forward position, with Cyle Larin (Besiktas), veteran Junior Hoilett (Cardiff), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Lucas Cavallini (Puebla) and Jonathan David (Gent) all being very capable goalscorers. Milan Borjan between the posts earned a lot of acclaim when his Red Star Belgrade team beat Liverpool in the Champions League last fall. Defensively they are a bit lacking, but Jonathan Osorio and Atiba Hutchinson can tie the midfield together and help out the back line if need be.
It may still be a bit too early, and I expect to see this team fully blossom over the course of the next cycle, but they can certainly put on a show this year and put in possibly their best performance since they won the whole thing back in 2000. They should get out of this group.
Les Matinino won all four of their qualifiers to get here, and were led by all time leading scorer Kévin Parsemain, Sébastien Cretinoir, and Daniel Herrelle. All three are veterans with 50+ caps and multiple tournaments of Gold Cup experience under their belts. Parsemain also has the interesting distinction of having played one (successful) season in the DR Congo for DC Motema Pembe; perhaps not the greatest team in the world but interesting nonetheless.
Over half of this squad plays in the Martinique first division, but again, that league has done better than you might expect over the past two years. Club Franciscain were on their way to the Concacaf League quarterfinals before a late collapse in 2018, while Aiglon du Lamentin had a dramatic run to the ninth round of the French Cup, losing to Ligue 2 side Orleans after extra time. A handful of veterans have ended up in Ligue 2 themselves, or the Spanish 2nd division, and Jordy Delem has become an MLS regular.
2017 coach Jean-Marc Civault had this team playing exciting attacking soccer and brought the mentality that they could take teams head on rather than park the bus. New manager Mario Bocaly would be wise to do the same, and if it all comes together this team could steal Canada's spot in the quarters.
That sounds like a bleak outlook for Cuba, but don't forget they made the quarterfinals in both 2013 and 2015 with entirely Cuban based squads. The potential for another trip to the knockout stage is greatly reduced now that third place won't be good enough, but Cuba can certainly play the role of spoilers to either Canada or Martinique, and it's likely that whoever gets the better result against Cuba of those two will be the ones advancing. After all, this team did get past the Dominican Republic in qualifying and took Haiti to the dying minutes in Port-Au-Prince, which is never an easy task, so who's to say they can't steal points off someone and shake up the group a little?
Martinique
Martinique put in a great showing in 2017, beating Nicaragua and going toe to toe with the US, and they'll be looking to improve on that this time around and return to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. Martiniquais football has seen a bit of a resurgence over the past few years, with club success and their relatively strong showing last tournament.Les Matinino won all four of their qualifiers to get here, and were led by all time leading scorer Kévin Parsemain, Sébastien Cretinoir, and Daniel Herrelle. All three are veterans with 50+ caps and multiple tournaments of Gold Cup experience under their belts. Parsemain also has the interesting distinction of having played one (successful) season in the DR Congo for DC Motema Pembe; perhaps not the greatest team in the world but interesting nonetheless.
Over half of this squad plays in the Martinique first division, but again, that league has done better than you might expect over the past two years. Club Franciscain were on their way to the Concacaf League quarterfinals before a late collapse in 2018, while Aiglon du Lamentin had a dramatic run to the ninth round of the French Cup, losing to Ligue 2 side Orleans after extra time. A handful of veterans have ended up in Ligue 2 themselves, or the Spanish 2nd division, and Jordy Delem has become an MLS regular.
2017 coach Jean-Marc Civault had this team playing exciting attacking soccer and brought the mentality that they could take teams head on rather than park the bus. New manager Mario Bocaly would be wise to do the same, and if it all comes together this team could steal Canada's spot in the quarters.
Cuba
Cuba are always a bit of a tough read. Much of the team plies their trade in the Cuban League which I know absolutely nothing about. A few others have moved to the superior Liga Dominicana, while Yosel Piedra and Luis Paradela are developing in the Guatemalan Liga de Ascenso (2nd Division). Arichel Hernández plays with Independiente in Panama, who gained acclaim for destroying Toronto in the CCL earlier this year, but has not really been part of the setup there.That sounds like a bleak outlook for Cuba, but don't forget they made the quarterfinals in both 2013 and 2015 with entirely Cuban based squads. The potential for another trip to the knockout stage is greatly reduced now that third place won't be good enough, but Cuba can certainly play the role of spoilers to either Canada or Martinique, and it's likely that whoever gets the better result against Cuba of those two will be the ones advancing. After all, this team did get past the Dominican Republic in qualifying and took Haiti to the dying minutes in Port-Au-Prince, which is never an easy task, so who's to say they can't steal points off someone and shake up the group a little?
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