http://www.rednationonline.ca/Articles2012/RedNationOnline2013GoldCuppreview.aspx With the CONCACAF Hexagonal round nearing its crucial moments for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, to a degree it overshadows the upcoming Gold Cup. The USA and Mexico have decided to send their "B" teams to the tournament, and others left out key players as qualifying reigns supreme over a regional tournament held every two years. With the weaker and less predicable squads announced, it should make the tournament more competitive and does bring up some interesting questions to look forward to as the tournament progresses. The United States brings a team to the tournament with a mixture of familiar faces and new ones some people might not of heard before. The experience is lead by Landon Donovan who is coming close to 150 international appearances and his next goal will be number 50 for Sam's Army. DeMarcus Beasley also has over 100 international appearances and Herculez Gomez who has only played 21 games so far for the American national team, continues to make a name for himself by scoring goals in the Mexican Primera. For me the two most interesting questions regarding the US is their midfield and forwards. Depending on formation, the midfield could include the once highly touted Stuart Holden, who at one time was valued over 10 million dollars. He since has been injured while at Bolton Wanderers in England, and if he can fully recover, he might be a key player for the US in Brazil. Two other midfielders on the squad are Mikkel Diskerud and Joshua Gatt, both players that compete in Norway. Diskerud played with the Norway youth team but chose to play with the US as a senior international while Gatt went to play in Europe instead the traditional US College and MLS route. Gatt may miss the tournament through injury but it will be interesting to evaluate him, Diskerud, Corona, and Bedoya in the continuing question of MLS vs elsewhere in developing the best North American based players. Speaking of MLS, the United States attack includes Chris Wondolowski, who despite his great goal total in the league, has yet to score for the National Team. The tournament could also see one of the top MLS scorers in Jack McInerney play his first Senior game for the US. It's important if the United States wants to compete at any level, they need to improve their threat upfront beyond Jozy Altidore. Maybe a good tournament by Wondolowski, McInerney or Houston Dynamo's Will Bruin will provide the United States some much needed depth in that position for the 2014 Brazil World Cup squad. With its season over and participation in the Confederation Cup, Mexico has decided to send a very young and inexperienced squad to the tournament. So much so that Canada's Julian De Guzman actually has more international games and same amount of goals than the entire Mexican team combined. That being said, it is a very exciting squad with a lot of talents who need to prove themselves if they wish to challenge for a spot on next year's World Cup squad. I recently did a prospect ranking list for the 2012-2013 Mexcian Primera which included Gold Cup roster players Darvin Chavez, Jorge Enriquez, Carlos Pena, Miguel Ponce, Javier Cortes, Raul Jimenez and Marco Fabian. Many of these players have been highly touted for a number of years but have failed to have any great impact on the senior Mexican team and will be hoping to change that this tournament. The best example being Marco Fabian who was seen as a great potential star like Javier Hernandez, but has almost gone backwards in terms of performances since leading Mexcio to Olympic gold in 2012. Canada, who have had difficulty finding success in international fixtures since being eliminated in the World Cup Qualifying 3rd Round, have had to make due without mainstays Atiba Hutchinson, Andre Hainault, Dejan Jakovic and Patrice Bernier. For Canada, long term future many hang on young players such as Ashtone Morgan, Doneil Henry, Russell Teibert, Samuel Piette, Kyle Bekker, Keven Aleman and Jonathan Osorio getting some playing time. For me the most interesting question is regarding the currently unattached players. A good tournament by Canada could see MLS clubs show interest in signing Adam Straith, Randy Edwini-Bonsu and Simeon Jackson with Jackson being the most interesting as his salary might be at the range of a DP. Rumours of him signing with Bournemouth could dampen that, but a return home to North America is usually enticing to players who've been away for many years. Overall, this Canadian team still has much to prove if it is going to bring back the enthusiasm to its fan base after the 8-1 loss to Honduras, so maybe some Gold Cup success can help. Unlike Mexico and United States; Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama, who are still playing for World Cup births, based on their rosters, appear to have taken this tournament more seriously. Although Costa Rica will be missing maybe the most exciting prospect in CONCACAF in Joel Campbell as he tries to make a spot on the 2013-2014 Arsenal squad. Costa Rica do have Michael Umana, Junior Diaz, Celso Borges, Michael Barrantes, and Alvaro Saborio, who are all over or close to 50 international appearances. Honduras will include the return of Andy Najar to US soil after being transferred to Anderlecht in Belgium. Other key players for Honduras will be MLS midfielders Marvin Chavez and Mario Martinez and striker Jerry Palacios. Panama is lead by FC Dallas striker Blas Perez who's next goal in international play will give him 30 overall. Trinidad, El Salvador, Haiti, Martinique, Cuba, and Belize complete the tournaments participants. Trinidad, who are now coached by former Canadian manager Stephen Hart, have brought in a few duel citizenship players to bolster the squad, including former Arsenal player Justin Hoyte. Hoyte and striker Kenwyne Jones will lead team who have been mostly disappointing since qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. El Salvador will be lead by their forward partnership of Rodolfo Zelaya and Rafael Burgos, who both play club soccer in Europe. Haiti and Martinique are heavily influenced by French Ligue players with Haiti's 20 year old midfielder Jeff Louis being the player with the brightest future in World soccer. Cuba are bringing a very experienced side that starts two 34 year olds in Yenier Marquez and Jaime Colome and 38 year old Goalkeeper Odelin Molina who has played in over a 100 international games. Finally Belize who has qualified for the Gold Cup final for the first time in their history is a team that is mostly based on players from its local league with a couple of players who play in Honduras. In predicting how the the tournament plays out I still think most likely we will have another United States vs Mexcio final. Although, who knows, four years down the road at the Confederations Cup in Russia it could be Canada in the tournament or even a smaller CONCACAF country replacing Tahiti as the plucky underdog which should give some motivation for all teams to do well.