It looks like it should be a pretty good tournament. Mexico is sending pretty much their full team (minus Blanco). Same with Costa Rica. Even though the US is missing 6 starters we're still sending a pretty strong squad. McBride is back and with the emergence of Kyle Martino we've got a pretty good playmaker. He had an excellent match against Cameroon, providing what we were missing against Turkey and Brazil. His excellent touch, vision, and passing allowed us to create more quality chances and play with a team who whipped Brazil. Number 2 keeper Kasey Keller is back too, although I think Howard is better. Other than up top it appears Canada has most of their 1st choice players. Here are the pairings Group A (Mexico City): MEXICO, BRAZIL, HONDURAS Group B (Miami): COLOMBIA, GUATEMALA, JAMAICA Group C (Foxboro): USA, EL SALVADOR, MARTINIQUE Group D (Foxboro): COSTA RICA, CANADA, CUBA Group A: The only "group of death." I know it's Brazil's U23 team, but they still have Robinho and many other studs. Mexico being the home team will most likely advance, although it isn't a given due to the quality of Honduras and Brazil's U23 team. I predict Mexico and Brazil U23 will advance. Group B: Colombia and Jamaica will advance. Guatemala has a few good players, but you're only as good as your supporting cast. Colombia has a very strong domestic league and some players in Europe's top leagues. They are always very dangerous. Jamaica has many players plying their trade in England and the US, in fact the majority of their starting lineup. Group C: USA and Martinique will advance. The US is just a lot better than both of these teams. I doubt any of the members of either squad would make the US' two deep roster. Martinique did impress me during the last Gold Cup so we won't take them lightly. El Salvador has a decent keeper and a US junior team reject. That's about the only positive things I can say about them. Group D: Costa Rica and Canada will advance. Cuba doesn't have the experience or depth to hang with either of these squads. They aren't even a professional team. It will be interesting to see how Canada stacks up against Costa Rica. It will be a very good test for a young Canadian squad. semifinals: USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Costa Rica final: USA-Mexico Champion USA (of course i'm a biased homer )
I hope you are right. At the time of writing this our roster still hasn't been released yet, even though the team meets in a few days to begin their training camp for the Gold Cup.
GROUP A: 1) Mexico (only because they're at home), 2) Brazil, 3) Honduras GROUP B: 1) Colombia, 2) Guatemala, 3) Jamaica GROUP C: 1) USA, 2) El Salvador, 3) Martinique GROUP D: 1) Costa Rica, 2) Canada, 3) Cuba QF Winners: Mexico, Colombia, USA, Costa Rica Semis: Mexico & USA Final: USA beats Mexico at Azteca & makes up for the Confed Cup disappointment!!
GROUP A: 1) Mexico 2) Honduras 3) Brazil GROUP B: 1) Colombia, 2) Guatemala, 3) Jamaica GROUP C: 1) USA, 2) El Salvador, 3) Martinique GROUP D: 1) Costa Rica, 2) Canada, 3) Cuba USA - Canada = USA CR - ES = CR Mexico - Gua = Mex Colombia - Honduras = Colombia USA - CR = CR (sweet redemption) Mex - Col = Mex Mex - CR = Mex
Kyle Martino Does anyone know the latest on Kyle Martino's ankle? Will he be healthy enough to play in the Gold Cup?
Re: Kyle Martino From what I've read and heard, Martino will be out for some time. Apparently, his ankle injury is a lot more serious than originally thought. It's unfortunate, as I wanted to see what Martino could do against quality opposition in a MAJOR tournament like the Gold Cup. He looks like he's going to be a special player for the USMNT. Finally, looks like the USMNT has their "true #10" playmaker in Kyle Martino!! I expect him to be on our WCQ team, from the outset!!!
Does anybody have any more information on the Martino injury, because I believed at first glance that it wasn't so bad. It would be bad if he missed the gold cup, because there he would be truly tested, and we would be able to see if we could use him in WCQ. If healthy he should start, but that depends on his status. Does anyone know the latest news?
If LaVolpe would have called up Torrado and Blanco, Mexico would have been unstoppable even though i still think they are going to win it all.
As Canadian supporters we know never to speak too soon..... The 25-man roster released on the Concacaf website today indicates that in addition to Canada missing its 3 top strikers, two key midfielders will also be missing, Jim Brennan & Julian De Guzman, most likely due to club committments (Brennan just signed with a new club, De Guzman is hoping to establish himself as a first-choice starting midfielder with Hannover in the Bundesliga - difficult for a young player to do if he misses the entire pre-season). There will be more cuts for all of the clubs of course, as the 25-man rosters have to be pared down to 18 before the tournament starts.
Re: Re: Gold Cup Predictions And don't forget we are also missing Radzinski, Pescholido and De Rosario as well, so missing a whole swath of 1st choice players. Much of this is injuries and club conflicts, but a lot is poor diplomacy on part of our coach Holger and Cdn Soccer Ass. as well. At least we'll have De Vos and Stalieri, so look on the bright side!
Mexico don't have to play in the US. The Yanks didn't have to win on the road last time (not to mention the rarified atmoshere of Azteca). Realistically, it'll be between Costa Rica, Colombia and the US for second place. But, if there is a heaven, Canada will be there. Any truth to the rumour that the Gold Cup being renamed the "USA Open Cup", with the odd game being allowed to be played in a ferri'n country? Or that Jack Warner's got a lock on a chair on the board of ABC?
Canada's Pared Down 18-Man Squad Just Named Canadian Roster For Gold Cup 2003 Name Position Club D.O.B. Caps Goals/Shutouts Pat Onstad GK San Jose Earthquakes, MLS 1/13/68 37 15 Maycoll Canizalez M Werder Bremen, Bundesliga 12/28/82 3 1 Richard Hastings D/M Graz AK, Austrian First Division 5/18/77 31 1 Paul Fenwick D Hibernian, Scottish Premier 8/25/69 29 0 Jason deVos D Wigan Athletic, English First Division 1/2/74 39 3 Jason Bent M Plymouth Argyle, English Second Div. 3/8/77 29 0 Paul Stalteri M Werder Bremen, German Bundesliga 10/18/77 42 4 Daniel Imhof M St. Gallen, Swiss First Division 11/22/77 16 0 Carlo Corazzin F Vancouver Whitecaps, A-League 12/25/71 55 10 Kevin McKenna D/F Heart of Midlothian, Scottish Premier 1/21/80 16 6 Martin Nash M Montreal Impact, A-League 12/27/75 25 2 Nick Dasovic D/M Vancouver Whitecaps, A-League 12/5/68 58 2 Davide Xausa M/F Livingston, Scottish Premier 3/10/76 32 2 Mike Klukowski M La Louviere, Belgium 5/27/81 1 0 Nevio Pizzolitto D Montreal Impact, A-League 8/26/76 6 0 Chris Pozniak D/M Orebro, Swedish Premier 1/10/81 7 0 Iain Hume M/F Tranmere Rovers, English Second Div. 10/20/83 1 0 Lars Hirschfeld GK Tottenham Hotspur, English Premier 10/17/78 11 3 So, looks like De Vos and Hirschfield have recovered nicely! Canizalez makes it on weakness of available strikers.
Re: Re: Re: Gold Cup Predictions I actually mentioned Rad & De Ro earlier on in this post (or on another one elsewhere on this board, its getting tough to remember them all ). True about Pesch, also we now can add Jazic & Nsaliwa as what is (IMO) first-choice starters missing from this squad. So we can't really call this our A team IMO, more like an A- or B+ (which should give you a clue as to my identity on another board ). Having said that, I think our depth has increased to the point where the absence of these players might not hurt us as badly as it would have in the past. I think the squad called should still be able to do fairly well. Though the less Corazzin, Dasovic and Fenwick play, the better. We are still lacking depth up front, so the absence of Pesch, DeRo & Radz really hurts us, but I'm looking forward to what young Iain Hume can bring to the team, in terms of both speed & enthusiasm. And while we will sorely miss De Guzman in midfield, I take some solace that Mike Klukowski will be there. Without both Brennan & Jazic I'm happy to give the left side spot to Canizalez, it will be a good experience for the youngster & I think we need his ability to keep possession in that midfield without De Guzman there.
You have to like Costa Rica's chances. Out of all the top squads in this tourney (which are IMO, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, Jamaica, Canada, Costa Rica & US) they appear to have what is the closest to their top team (perhaps Jamaica does as well, I'm not really that familiar with them at this time). And I don't think Azteca will bother them as much as it might both the Americans or Canadians (they have actually beaten Mexico there in the past).
as much as some people point to brazil as being too young to win it with their u23s, i think they'll do it. too much firepower in robinho, diego and that guy Nilmar. nilmar and Diego are already exciting enough but robinho is da shiznit and i cant wait to see him. also the rest of the team but apart from mexico and the usa look out for colombia, they might pull some surprises.
Man, I hope we see this. This is shaping up to be one of the biggest international rivalries. I would love to see the US prevail against Mexico in Mexico City, but it will sure be a scary environment to have to walk into. Near as I can figure, they can also meet in Miami in the semi-finals, which wouldn't be quite as tension-filled. Heck, I just hope they get to play each other at all.
The US and Mexico can only meet in Azteca. CONCACAF set it up so that Mexico plays all it's games in Mexico.
At this point I just hope a CONCACAF team wins it, CR doesn't look like they are in the form to do it, Mexico still is struggling, and the US hasn't had a quality victory (Paraguay B team, Wales B team, and New Zeland don't make me excited) in a while. Brazil U-23 or Columbia winning it would be a huge slap in the face to our confederation.....
Hmmm, the schedule posted on Yahoo (http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=goldcupstnd&prov=ap&type=stnd) says this: GROUP A ------- W L T GF GA PTS - - - -- -- --- Mexico 1 0 0 1 0 3 Honduras 0 0 0 0 0 0 Brazil 0 1 0 0 1 0 [...] July 19 -- Miami ---------------- Quarterfinal 4: Winner Group B vs. 2nd Group A So it looks like if Mexico comes in second in their division, they play the Quarterfinal in Miami. And if they win that, they also play the Semifinal there.
2003 CONCACAF GOLD CUP MATCH SCHEDULE 12.07.2003 (Foxboro): D1: COSTA RICA v D2: CANADA (13:00); C1: USA v C2: EL SALVADOR (18:30) 13.07.2003 (Mexico City): A1: MEXICO v A2: BRAZIL (12:00); (Miami): B3: JAMAICA v B1: COLOMBIA (15:00) 14.07.2003 (Foxboro): D2: CANADA v D3: CUBA (18:30); C3: INTERZONE 2* v C1: USA (20:30) 15.07.2003 (Miami): B2: GUATEMALA v B3: JAMAICA (19:00); (Mexico City): A2: BRAZIL v A3: INTERZONE 1* (20:00) 16.07.2003 (Foxboro): D3: CUBA v D1: COSTA RICA (18:30); D3: C2: EL SALVADOR v C3: INTERZONE 2* (20:30) 17.07.2003 (Miami): B1: COLOMBIA v B2: GUATEMALA (20:00) (Mexico City): A3: INTERZONE 1* v A1: MEXICO (21:00) 19.07.2003 (Foxboro): QF1: WINNER GRP C v 2nd GRP D** (15:00); QF2: WINNER GRP D v 2nd GRP C** (18:00) 20.07.2003 (Mexico City): QF3: WINNER GRP A v 2nd GRP B** (12:00); (Miami): QF4: WINNER GRP B v 2nd GRP A** (16:00) 23.07.2003 (Miami): SF1: WINNER QF1 v WINNER QF4 (20:00) 24.07.2003 (Mexico City): SF2: WINNER QF2 v WINNER QF3 (21:00) 26.07.2003 (Miami): THIRD-PLACE MATCH (semifinal losers) (20:00) 27.07.2003 (Mexico City): FINAL (semifinal winners) (12:00) ALL TIMES LOCAL TO VENUE * -- precise placement of qualifiers from Interzone Playoff to be determined following tournament, based on competitive, commercial and security concerns ** -- as host countries, should Mexico and USA qualify for the quarterfinals, they will play in Quarterfinals 1 and 3 respectively regardless of whether they finish first or second in their groups. The pairings remain the same, to be repositioned as necessary. From the guys who run this tourney. http://stats.soccerconfederation.co...p:282051:48302+notes/main-redesign+E+4/8/2003 Scroll all the way to the bottom.
"CONCACAF set it up so that Mexico plays all it's games in Mexico." And they also set it up so the USA has an "easy" (at least on paper) ride to the Final, and a possible "Dream TFC Final" with Mexico; they don't have to face Brasil, Colombia, Mexico or Honduras, the strongest teams this side of Costa Rica, until the Final. Boy! talking about a conspiracy theory! I wonder if either Brasil or Colombia reach the Final against the US, the suits at TFC will reconsider and send the match to Miami or Foxboro!! LET'S START A PETITION FOR THAT TO HAPPEN!!!!