More Mexicans Sent Home

News has once again broke that a group of 8 Mexican internationals have been sent home just days before the start of the Copa America. The 8 players, which include future star Jonathan dos Santos, were charged as part of an alleged sex scandal.

Along side Jonathan dos Santos, Nestor Vidrio, Javier Cortes, David Cabrera, Nestor Claderon, Israel Jimenez, Jorge Hernandez and Marco Fabian have also been sent home. Mexico, who decided to send an under-22 side to the Copa America in order to rest their stars, still have time to replace the players ahead of their first match in the tournament.

This is the second time in a month that a group of Mexican players have been sent home from a tournament. The first group of suspended players failed a drug test as part of the Gold Cup earlier this month. This time around, the suspended players will be out for 6 months and fined $3,000 after news of their alleged sex scandal broke.

Mexican officials would not go into details over the nature of the incident only saying that the rules had been broken and they needed to act. The story broke none-the-less thanks to a television station getting a hold of security camera footage from the teams hotel. The tapes show a member of the side's staff escorting women into the player's rooms. Players were not allowed to have females in their rooms resulting in the rule breaking that Mexico team director Hector Gonzalez Inarritu spoke off.

Mexico, whose decision to send a young side to the Copa likely stated their intentions in the tournament, will be forced to replace the 8 players which includes a couple players who are important parts of the team. If Mexico had any intention to compete for the Copa America crown just weeks after capturing the CONCACAF Gold Cup, their chances most surely have taken a big hit after the revelation of this sex scandal.

Gold Cup: Day 8

So last night was finally the second last day of group stages.  Group B was set to come to an end with Guatemala taking on Grenada and Jamaica against Honduras.  For the games taking place at Red Bull Arena the stakes were pretty simple.  In the first match Guatemala needed to win by 3 goals to ensure that they would go through as a best placed third team (or even get second in the group) and if Grenada wanted to advance they were going to need to win by a landslide and then get a lot of help from group C results, so basically Grenada were done already.  In the second game of the night both teams were already through to the next round, barring a very lopsided win by Jamaica, so it was basically a battle for top spot as Jamaica would go through in first with either a win or a draw.

The night kicked off with Guatemala taking on Grenada and this match raised the interesting question of which team is worse, Grenada or Cuba?  They were the first two teams sent packing from the tournament and lets be honest they never even came close to taking a point in this thing.  In this one Grenada looked completely outclassed and their defence seemed incapable of slowing down the attack.  As a result Guatemala got goals in the 15th and 21st minutes and despite leading 2-0 at the break they really should have been up by a few more goals.  The good news for Guatemala was that with a 2-0 lead their goal difference was up to 0 and that had them even with El Salvador and they would have known that one more in the second half would almost certainly see them advance.  They got that goal in the 53rd minute from Carlos Ruiz, who finally got on the score sheet, and then for good measure they ensured their progress with a fourth goal this time from Carlos Gallardo.

With a 4-0 win in the bag Guatemala had ensured that they would be in the next phase of the competition.  They have 4 points but their +2 goal difference is better then El Salvador's goal difference of 0 and that means that regardless of the results in the last 3 games the worst they could end up is as the 8th team to get through.  For Grenada the loss just further illustrated that the team that they brought here was just not up to par.  Like Cuba they struggled to score goals and were conceding them at an alarming rate.  I guess Grenada can be proud that they did not finish last overall since they conceded one less goal then Cuba did and had one less player defect.  On a completely unrelated note I would like to urge Grenada to start paying their coach enough that he can afford to get a suit and tie.  He looked terrible in that track jacket, cheap ball cap, and purple piny.  At least if you are going to get destroyed in three straight games you can try and look like you are somewhat professional.

The second game of the night was a real letdown to me.  I was expecting to see Jamaica and Honduras battling it out with top spot on the line but instead with both teams having already sealed their progress they seemed to already be thinking about the quarterfinals and not to interested in trying all that hard in this game.  Jamaica did have a fair bit more life to them then Honduras to be fair and they were the better team in the first half creating a couple of chances and forcing a couple of good saves out of Valladares.  Jamaica would get the only breakthrough of the match in the 35th minute when Ryan Johnson fired a shot in from 20 some yards out that smashed off the crossbar but he got a bit of luck as the ball rebounded off of Valladares' back and into the net.  Johnson's strike was worthy of a goal but the Honduran keeper was a bit unfortunate to be charged with the own goal on that one.  Honduras got a bit more into the game in the second half but the only major moment was a decision to hand Jamaica a penalty.  The call was the correct one but the excitement came from the fact that Valladares got a bit of revenge on Ryan Johnson by doing really well to get down and turn his spot kick away.

In the end the game wound up 1-0 and though it was lacking some of the spark and the goals that I was expecting from these two teams it was probably a fair result.  The result means that Jamaica goes through Group B in first place having collected 9 points.  Honduras will go through in second having collected the same 4 points as Guatemala but their goal difference of +5 is enough.

I will be back later on with another blog setting out the task that faces Canada as they look to advance from group C and also what they are going to need to happen if they are going to be able to avoid a quarterfinal date with highflying Mexico.

Gold Cup: Day 7

The 7th round of action in the Gold Cup saw group A come to its conclusion.  So far the story in group A has been the Mexican team with its failed drug tests and high flying attack but the other teams in the group have also been proving that they know how to score a few goals of their own setting up an exciting last round of action in Chicago.

The evening opened with El Salvador taking on Cuba.  Coming in to the match both teams were basically in need of a big win to even have a chance of moving on into a place in the quarterfinals but even a massive win would likely have not been enough for Cuba who were yet to pick up a single point.  Apparently someone did tell El Salvador that with only 1 point from their first two matches they needed to crush Cuba because they came out flying and went straight to work on trying to repair their goal difference from the damage that Mexico had done to it.  El Salvador opened the scoring only 11 minutes in when Zelaya was on the spot to score his first of the game and second of the tournament.  His goal would be followed up by another from Romero on the 28th minute that saw El Salvador take a 2-0 lead into the break.  If that score line had held until the end of the match both teams would likely have been going home without help from the other groups as El Salvador were still sitting on a -3 goal difference.

The second half was a real cracker though as El Salvador again went straight on to the offensive.  Blanco scored in the 69th minute, Zelaya added his third of the tournament in the 70th but just when the route seemed to be on Cuba put a dent in their hopes.  Cuba were certainly going home at this point but that did not stop them from pulling one back in the 82nd minute through Marquez.  The Cuban rally, if you can even call it that, did not last long though as only a minute later El Salvador restored their 4 goal lead through Hernandez and then a 90th minute goal from Quintanilla was just enough to bring their goal difference back to 0.  With El Salvador sitting on 4 points and a goal difference of 0 they look to be in decent shape to have a hope of advancing but for Cuba the 6-1 defeat was the end of a rough tournament.  The Cuban team only managed to score that 1 goal while conceding 16 on route to 3 straight loses.  Hopefully it was at least a learning experience for the team and they have done well with apparently only one player defecting so far!

The second game of the night saw Mexico taking on Costa Rica with top spot in the group on the line.  A win or a draw would have seen Mexico finish in first place but only a win would do the trick for Costa Rica.  Costa Rica also knew that with El Salvador winning by 5 they needed to ensure that they did not get destroyed by Mexico to avoid falling down in to third place.  It all set up for an exciting match but in the end it was more about Costa Rica struggling to hold on to second place then a battle for the top spot.  Mexico reversed their normal trend and came out scoring in the first half, instead of waiting for the second half like they have of late.  Mexico opened the scoring 16 minutes in through Rafael Marquez and when Guardado added goals in the 19th and 25th minutes it looked like the route was once again on.  Before the end of the half Mexico would make it 4-0 through Pablo Barrera.  It looked like they were a sure thing to go through from the group on top and really just had to coast through the second half.  For Costa Rica though they now found themselves ahead of El Salvador by only 1 on the goal difference. 

Costa Rica came out a lot better in the second half, either that of Mexico came out a lot worse with nothing left to play for.  They seemed fully intent on making sure that Mexico did not expand their lead at all and they were battling for that second place finish in the group.  In the 68th minute all of that hard work was rewarded when Marcos Urena scored a goal that gave them a 2 goal cushion again despite being down 4-1 in the match.  Both teams seemed to be fairly content with this scoreline and the match sort of fizzled out down the stretch as it was clear that Mexico would be winning the group and Costa Rica had done enough to hang on to second place.  For the first time in the Gold Cup Chicharito did not steal the show as he was held off the score sheet before being substituted.

So we have one group all figured out and we know that Mexico and Costa Rica will be through to the next round for sure but El Salvador are going to have to wait and see how the next two days of results go before they know if they are going to be in the quarterfinals.  Cuba on the other hand are going home for sure.  Group A sure did provide us with a lot of goals as they combined to score an massive 29 goals despite Cuba only chipping in with 1.

Growth of a Legend

Since the announcement of his transfer from Chivas to Manchester United last spring, striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez has caused quite a stir on the World's football scene. The little known Mexican seemed like an odd signing for Sir Alex Ferguson when it was announced but a year into his Manchester United career the deal looks like one of the greatest deals of all time. Chicharito has shown a goal scoring instinct that rivals some of the greatest goal scorers of all time including recently retired Ronaldo. His 20 goals scored for United in his first season in European football was a tremendous return for the 6 million pounds spent on him. Hernandez is know showing his tremendous finishing ability at the Gold Cup where has has scored 5 goals in 2 matches.

Javier Hernandez was born June 1, 1988 in Guadalajara, Mexico. His father, Javier Hernandez, was a well known Mexican striker as well who played in the 1986 World Cup for Mexico. Javier Sr. was nicknamed "Chicharo" meaning "pea" because of his green eyes and when he was young people started calling Javier Jr. "Chicharito" meaning "little pea" because he was the of "Chicharo."

Chicharito made his professional debut for home town team Chivas de Guadalajara when he was a teenager and quickly became a fan favorite. Hernandez scored his first professional goal in his debut with Chivaz in 2006. This terrific start was followed by a long period of hard ship. He did not score another the rest of the 2006 season and the goal draught continued for two whole seasons. The long draught which limited his playing time with Chivas finally ended in 2009 when he scored 4 goals during the season. In recent interviews, Hernandez has revealed that during this period football was no longer fun for him and he seriously considered retiring from his playing career. It was only with the support of his family that he continued and it is now paying dividends.

The "Little Pea" soon started to rack up the goals in front of his home town crowd, leading the team in scoring for two seasons where he notched up the majority of his 29 goals he scored while making 79 appearances for Chivas de Guadalajara. It was also during this time that Manchester United caught wind of the player and his potential.

Reportedly United had planned to wait to make a move for the talented, young Mexican striker in order to give him more first team experience in Mexico because of his young age but with his planned involvement in the Mexican World Cup team in South Africa they moved quickly before he was on show on the World stage. On April 28, 2010, a deal to bring Javier Hernandez to Manchester was completed in complete secrecy for a reported 6 million pound fee and a friendly with Chivas to open their new stadium. United had done their homework on the little known Chicharito who soon started to make a name for himself.

Hernandez has made his full international debut for Mexico on September 30, 2009 against Colombia. In the lead up to the 2010 World Cup, he made a further 5 appearances for Mexico scoring 6 goals. His superb play continued into the World Cup in South Africa where he scored 2 goals in 4 appearances with well taken finishes against France and Argentina. The striker known as the "Little Pea" had made himself known to the world.

In the fall of 2010, Javier Hernandez made his debut for Manchester United in the Community Shield against Chelsea. It was a scoring debut for Hernandez once again with a goal that did not do justice for his finishing abilities as he kicked the ball off his face before it rolled into the open net. Chicharito quickly found his way into the heart of United faithful becoming a fan favorite with a number of key goals.

United's newest striker went on to score an outstanding 20 goals for the first team in 45 appearances, including 4 in the season's Champions League campaign. Javier Hernandez was the first player since Ruud van Nistelrooy to score 20 goals in a debut season for the Red Devils. Hernandez top off his outstanding first season with Manchester United by being awarded the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award by the fans.

All through his first season in England, Hernandez was drawing comparisons with a United legend. Many people compared the Mexican to Ole Gunnar Solksjaer because of his speed, strength in the air, and ability to use both his feet. Now Red Devil fans will hope that Chicharito will have his own moment similar to Solksjaer's Champions League stoppage time winner to eternally engrave him in the annals of the Manchester United, the biggest club in the World.

As a member of the Mexican 2011 Gold Cup team, Javier Hernandez is once again showing off his qualities. In just two appearances so far this tournament, the quick striker leads the tournament with 5 goals for a Mexican team that has run rampant over their opponents.

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez has had a fantastic season that very few ever achieve for both club and country. It is hard to image that only one year ago he was only known to football fans in his home country of Mexico, but after one season he has proved himself to be a world class player. Chicharito has stated that he has debt to pay to Sir Alex Ferguson for showing faith in him. With that attitude and the work ethic that comes with it and his natural talent, Hernandez is on a path to become one of the greatest goal scorers the world has ever seen.

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.

Gold Cup: Day 1

The central story line of day 1 at the Gold Cup has got to be the very lopsided score lines.  To me the games really served to illustrate just how large the gap now is between the top teams in CONCACAF and the teams that are just barely able to make it into the Gold Cup and will be among the first ones out of World Cup qualifying when it starts in the fall.  On the other side of the coin Mexico and Costa Rica both showed that they are going to be tough teams to beat and that should set up a good clash between the two of them with top spot in the group likely on the line.

There was some good news for Canada on Day 1 as the lopsided score lines mean that the team that finishes third in group A is likely to have a bad goal difference.  That is good for Canada in case they finish third in group C since in the Gold Cup the top two teams advance and then the 2 best third place teams also make it though.  So unless we get a lot more one sided scores then its not looking for great for who ever ends up third in group A, but lets not get to far ahead of ourselves with that since it was only the first day of the tournament.


The games themselves were entertaining affairs unless you are a fan of either of the losing teams in which case they were probably about as much fun as getting a root canal. The tournament opened with Costa Rica taking on Cuba in front of a decent crowd at Cowboys stadium. The crowd was no where near the kinds of record numbers that the new Cowboys Stadium is none for but at least the place was not dead and anyone who stayed to watch both matches were treated to a lot of goals. Costa Rica stole the show in the opener with their 5-0 win over Cuba thanks to getting goals from 4 different sources with
Marcos Urena, a Russian Premier League player, netting a pair.  The game was fairly close, on the score sheet at least, through the first 40 minutes but that is when Costa Rica put the game out of reach.  A goal just before half was followed up by a shocking 2 goals in the first 2 minutes of the second half to put this one beyond doubt.  The 5-0 scoreline in the end was nothing more then Costa Rica deserved as they completely controlled the match and Cuba never even looked like a threat to score while their back line seemed completely outclassed and unable to stop the constant attacks.

The second game of the night was not much different which I sure pleased the largely pro-Mexican crowd that was in attendance.  The Mexican fans would have come into the match expecting a comfortable win over the much weaker El Salvador and would probably have been very uncomfortable with their teams first half performance.  At the break the match was 0-0 and Mexico was failing to make anything of the number of chances that came their way.  The second half was a completely different story though as they found their stride and under the leading of Javier Hernandez, the Manchester United striker, they found their scoring boots.  Chicharito scored a hat trick which was capped off with a 93rd minute penalty after Juarez and De Nigris had each scored to give Mexico a 2-0 lead.  Again the 5-0 score line was probably a deserved result as the Mexicans completely dominated to run of play firing 20 shots towards the net and constantly threatening the back line of El Salvador.

Things that I will be taking away from the first round of matches is that:

- Costa Rica and Mexico are the two teams almost certainly going to be fighting it out for top spot in group A.  

- Mexico are deserving of being labelled as pre-tournament favourites, along with the States, and will be a force to be reckoned with

- Javier Hernandez is going to be a force in this tournament having spent all season causing some of the world's best centre backs problems his pace is just going to be too much for most teams

- We might just be in for a treat this year in terms of the number of goals scored

Day 2 is likely to be a bit less exciting in terms of the number of goals scored but Jamaica-Grenada and Honduras-Guatemala should still be interesting matches.  Honduras are probably the team to watch in group B as I would consider them the favourites to win it and the one team in the group that could provide a shock and go far in this tournament.

Results before Support: More Thoughts

I have spent a lot of time thinking about the comments that are made all to often that the Canadian Mens National team will get more support when it starts to get better results.  That has led to me trying to figure out where the line is going to be.  What does the team have to do to win over enough support to even fill up half of BMO field?

Let us imagine for a moment or two that Canada makes it to the finals of the Gold Cup or even wins it and along the way they beat a team like Mexico or the United States.  Would that be enough to win over any new supporters?  I would say no.  That might seem like the pessimistic answer but with the Gold Cup receiving limited coverage in the Canadian media, granted Sportsnet, the Score and CBC are all putting in a real effort, not enough people are going to realize that Canada is involved in a major tournament this month.  It is shocking how many people who play soccer and claim to like the sport I have come across that don't even know that the Gold Cup is underway right now.  So that is why I think that even winning the Gold Cup will not do that much to boost the support for the team.  I hope I am wrong and that a good showing this month means a few more people will come out and support the team this fall when it begins its world cup campaign but unless the team gets a lot more attention in the news people will continue to be oblivious to the fact that they are already now worth supporting.

I will say that if Canada wins somehow this month, or even makes a good run, it should still have more of an impact then the runs of 2000 and 2007 because the coverage is improved since then.  The games are all being shown on TV even if its on Sportsnet's alternate channel and a dedicated group of journalists and bloggers are doing their very best to get the word out.  That will all help, even if it is only slightly, and at this stage every extra fan that can be won over is going to be a boost in the long run since they might one day bring a friend along to see a match and that is the best way for support to grow in numbers.

Now to get back to my original point of what would it take to get a decent amount of support for the team across the country and in the Toronto area.  I think it would take the team making a serious push towards World Cup qualification.  If they were to make it to the final stages and for example have a match at BMO field against either the United States or Mexico with a spot in the WC on the line then that stadium would be packed.  Maybe even if the same spot is on the line and we are hosting a match against Costa Rica or Honduras we would see a full stadium with most of the crowd being pro-Canadian.  But the fact of the matter is that Canada is still probably some ways off from making a serious push to qualify for the world cup and any such push is going to require the team being almost unbeatable at home.  That creates a sort of catch 22 for the program since they need strong support to provide that much needed home field advantage but they clearly need to win more before they are going to receive that kind of support.

I guess the best that we can hope is that the group of people already dedicated to the cause continue to put in the hours of tireless work trying to support the team and with each passing game the crowd grows slightly larger.  It is going to take a lot of time but since support helps with results we need to give the best support possible to the team so that in the future more fans will come out who have been waiting to see results first.  Sadly though the people waiting to see results first are going to be missing out on a lot of good matches and great times.

Gold Cup Preview: The 1812 Derby

This weekend the CONCACAF Gold Cup kicks off in the States and the attitude around the Canadian mens national team is that they are in it to win it.  It is going to be a tough task for the Canadians who will almost certainly have to get past the Americans and the Mexicans if they hope to win for the first time since 2000.

For most Canadian soccer fans when you mention the Gold Cup there are two images that come to mind.  The first one, hopefully since its a lot happier, is of Canada winning it all in 2-0 thanks to goals from De Vos and Corazzin.  Canada triumphed over Columbia that year down in Los Angles but the high point of the tournament was almost certainly when Richard Hastings scored a 92nd minute golden goal to give Canada a 2-1 win over Mexico in the quarter finals.  The image of Hastings celebrating with his shirt on backwards is engrained in the minds of many Canadians and has to be among the happiest moments in our national teams history.  The other image that the Gold Cup triggers is one that makes passionate fans annoyed, angry, or sad but either way it is one that has stuck with them all.  The image comes from the semifinal of the 2007 edition of the tournament when Canada was playing the United States.  With Canada down 2-1 late in the match it appeared that Atiba Hutchinson had levelled the game.  He latched on to a through ball that had deflected off a defender before calmly slotting it home.  The only problem was that it was wrongly flagged for offside by the assistant and the referee went along with him.  I don't often remember who was the referee for a match that took place almost 4 years ago but I can tell you that on that day the refs last name was Archundia who has reffed in the World Cup but to me he will always be remembered for June 21, 2007 at Soldier Field in Chicago when he cost Canada a chance to beat the United States.

But that is all in the past now and 2011 gives Canada another chance to make a magical run to the title.  Several members of the current squad were on that 2007 team and they will be looking to get a measure of revenge when they take to Ford Field in Detroit on Tuesday to play against the United States in what is sometimes referred to as the 1812 Derby.  The Canadians open up with what is by far the toughest game of their opening round group stage.  After the match against the Americans on June 7th they have dates with Guadeloupe on June 11th and then Panama on the 14th.  With the set up of the Gold Cup it is not crucial that Canada beats the United States but for the momentum and national pride that would come from such a match it makes the game a lot more important.  Canada can get through to the knockout stages by finishing either first or second in the group or be one of the two best third place teams.  With only 12 teams in the whole tournament and 8 needing to advance to the quarter finals it is key that Canada finds a way to win at least one match in the group stage.

For the sake of seeding it will be beneficial to Canada to win as many games as possible since that will likely give them the easiest draw in the next round.  For example if Canada comes in second in this group which is where I would expect them to end up at the very least then they would get to play the winner of the group featuring Honduras, Jamaica, Grenada, and Guatemala which would not be the worst draw imaginable.  On the other hand though is Canada finds a way to win the group then they would get one of those two best third placed teams.

On paper the Americans have to be the favourites for the June 7th match.  They have won the Cup 4 times in the past, are fixtures in the World Cup, and are ranked 22nd in the world by FIFA.  As recently as 2006 the Americans were ranked number 4 in the world which was probably a very favourable ranking but it does illustrate the quality that their side possesses.  Canada on the other hand is probably ranked a bit unfairly at 75th.  Despite the apparent gap though the two teams have played each other fairly close in recent meetings but that match in 2007 was the last time they met at this level having avoided playing each other in the 2009 Gold Cup and in World Cup 2010 qualifiers.  If you look back into the history of this rivalry you will see that for the past 2 decades it really has been all the United States as Canada has not been able to claim a win over their neighbours to the south since a friendly back in 1985.  The players on this years team might not know when the team last beat the USA but they will know that it has been a long time and that is something they will be desperate to change.  A win against the USA could go a long ways towards increasing the profile of the mens national team in this country as well as erasing some of the pain of 2007.

For the Canadian National team the start of 2014 World Cup qualification in the fall is going to be the priority but if they can go deep in this months Gold Cup it would give them priceless experience as well as momentum going into that qualifying campaign.  So a win over the USA would be a massive boost in getting the ball rolling towards 2014.  Canadian coach Stephen Hart seems to be confident in his sides ability to go out and compete in a tough group and hopefully make a run into the later stages this summer.  He has a confidence which seems to have spread to the players who are going into the match next week with a belief that there is no reason why they can not come away with a positive result.  If Canada can put together a similar performance to the one they did against Ecuador and cut out some of the sloppy errors that came from lack of time on the field together then they really should be in with a chance of coming away with something.  It is clearly going to be a tough ask but if Canada goes out and gives its best there really is no reason why they can not get something from it.

Canada's roster for the Gold Cup has a nice mix of veterans who have played in the tournament before including members from that 2007 team along with some fresh faces.  De Rosario is the only player left who tasted victory in this tournament back in 2007 and he will certainly be looked upon to provide stability in the midfield and use his experience to be a leader in this team.  Along with Atiba Hutchinson he will be key in driving the team forward and controlling the tempo against an American team with a very strong midfield.  With a veteran core in the roster Hart will be looking to some of the fresh faces to bring new energy and a desire to prove themselves at this level which could help to boost the team and set the foundations for a brighter future.  The likes of Tosaint Ricketts and Simeon Jackson will want to show what they can do at the senior level to ensure that they will be with the national team for a long time to come.  Another new face who will be asked to contribute is Milan Borjan who seems likely to be the teams first choice keeper as he is set to make his competitive debut for the national team against the United States.  A strong showing from him in the Gold Cup would set him up as the number one keeper going forward which would provide some nice stability at the back end.

1- GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball

2- D/M- Nik Ledgerwood | GER / SV Wehen Wiesbaden

3- D/M- Mike Klukowski |

4- CB- Kevin McKenna | GER / FC Köln

5- CB- André Hainault | USA / Houston Dynamo

6- M- Julian de Guzman | CAN / Toronto FC

7- M- Terry Dunfield | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

8- M- Will Johnson | USA / Real Salt Lake

9- F- Rob Friend | GER / Hertha BSC

10- F- Ali Gerba | CAN / Impact Montréal

11- M- Josh Simpson | TUR / Vestel Manisaspor

12- M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / CD Santa Clara

13- M- Atiba Hutchinson | NED / PSV Eindhoven

14- F- Dwayne De Rosario | USA / New York Red Bulls

15- D- Dejan Jakovic | USA / DC United

16- M/F- Tosaint Ricketts | ROM / FC Politehnica Timiþoara

17- M- Simeon Jackson | ENG / Norwich City FC

18- GK- Milan Borjan | SRB / FK Rad

19- M- Marcel de Jong | GER / FC Augsburg

20- D- Jaime Peters | ENG / Ipswich Town FC

21- M- Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault | GER / SC Preußen Münster

22- GK- Haidar Al-Shaïbani | FRA / Nîmes Olympique

23- M- Issey Nakajima-Farran | DEN / AC Horsens