The USA literally left it to the last minute, but they managed to clinch Group B in the Gold Cup with a 2-2 draw against Haiti in Foxborough, Massachusetts on July 11th. If Haiti could have just hung on a little longer it would have been their first win over the Americans in 40 years. The last time they beat them was in May 1969. The draw also extended the Americans very impressive unbeaten record in Gold Cup play as they have won 23 and drawn two matches in the history of the tournament in group play.

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Mexico rebounded form their 1-1 draw with to beat Guadeloupe 2-0 in front of 24,000 fans in Glendale, Arizona on July 12th. The win assured the Mexicans of top spot in Group C in the Gold Cup with seven points. Mexican manager Javier Aguirre served the first of his three-game suspension in this match after kicking out at Ricardo Phillips of Panama on the sidelines during Mexico’s last game. He’s eligible to return for the final on July 26 if Mexico qualifies.

“We qualified and we feel good,” Aguirre said through an interpreter. “We seemed lighter on our feet and more confident. I hope that we stay that way.”

Mexico will take on Haiti in the quarterfinals on July 19 in Arlington, Texas, while Guadeloupe, who finished in second place in the group with two wins, will meet Costa Rica on the same day and in the same locale.

This was the second straight eventful game for Mexico as two Guadeloupe players were shown red cards by the referee.

Mexico went back to attacking football in this game and dominated it from the opening kickoff. It paid off in the 41st minute as Gerardo Torrado took a pass from Efrain Juarez at the top of the 18-yard box and then hammered a right-footed shot past Guadeloupe’s keeper Yohan Bus just inside the left post for his second goal of the Cup.

Any hopes of a comeback by Guadeloupe were washed away when they lost their composure late in the game and had two players sent off the pitch within three minutes of each other. Defender Alain Vertot was given his marching orders after receiving his second yellow of the game in the 71st minute for hauling down a Mexican attacker. Then in the 82nd minute, substitute Ludovic Gotin, who came on in the 63rd minute for Mickael Curier, was shown a straight red for a dangerous tackle and went to join Vertot in the shower.

It didn’t take Mexico long to take advantage of playing against nine men, and Miguel Sabah headed a cross from Pablo Barrera in the 85th minute to slam the door on Guadeloupe, who were also missing four injured players and another who was suspended.

In the other Group C contest, in Glendale, Panama clinched a berth in the playoffs after thumping Nicaragua 4-0. Panama ended in third place with four points, from a win and a draw and qualified as one of the top two third-place teams.

The turning point was probably when Franklin Lopez was sent off in the 45th minute with his second yellow card. The score was only 1-0 then, after Blas Perez banged one home in the 34th minute, but Haiti then pumped in three more goals against the 10-man squad.

The next three goals came in 10-minute intervals as Gabriel Gomez scored in the 56th minute and Luis Tejada added two more in the 75th and 87th minutes.

The quarterfinal schedule is as follows:

July 18th – Canada vs. Honduras at Lincoln Financial Field; Philadelphia

July 18th – U.S. vs. Panama at Lincoln Financial Field; Philadelphia

July 19th – Guadeloupe vs. Costa Rica at Dallas Cowboys Stadium; Arlington, Texas

July 19th – Mexico vs. Haiti at Dallas Cowboys Stadium; Arlington, Texas

Canada took the top spot in Group A of the Gold Cup after battling to a 2-2 draw with Costa Rica in Miami, Florida on July 10th. The draw gave Canada seven points after they had already beaten Jamaica, and El Salvador. They now advance to the quarterfinals, but have to sit around for a week as they don’t get underway until July 18th.

Costa Rica also made it to the playoff stages as they ended up in second place in the group with a win, loss and draw. Jamaica beat El Salvador 1-0 in the other Group A match yesterday and they both end up with three points. Jamaica ends up in third place though, because of the head to head win. However, because of the complicated set up to the tournament, they won’t know if they go through until the other two groups have played their final round-robin matches.

Costa Rica actually had the better chances during the match and more of them. All four goals came in the first half and it looked like it might be a high-scoring affair, but things settled down in the second half.

Costa Rica jumped into the lead in the 22nd minute as Andy Herron found the back of the net. Canadian keeper Greg Sutton had booted a goal kick to midfield, but Costa Rica’s Armando Alonso headed it to an unmarked Herron on the right wing. He dribbled into the penalty area and neatly beat the onrushing keeper.

Canada came back with a vengeance though and three minutes later they had scored twice to take a 2-1 lead. Patrice Bernier leveled the score in the 24th minute as he was on the end of a great cross from the left wing by Josh Simpson. Bernier directed the ball past Costa Rican goalkeeper Ricardo Gonzalez with a shot from just outside the six-yard box.

Canada then took the lead in the 27th minute as Marcel De Jong scooped up a loose ball and then dribbled about five yards before hammering a low, long-range shot from about 25 yards out that bounced inside the left post. I thought keeper Gonzalez actually looked weak on both of the Canadian goals.

The lead didn’t last very long though as Walter Centeno tied it at 2-2 in the 34th minute with a long, swerving free kick that beat the Canadian wall and Sutton at the right post. It was again another example of why managers should take the common sense approach of placing a defender on each post for free kicks. Anybody positioned at the post could have stopped the ball, even if he was fast asleep, as the shot would have hit him.

There was no scoring from then on in, even though Costa Rica threatened t0o take the lead a couple of times. Each team received a yellow card, and it was a bit of a sloppy game with Canada committing 15 fouls to Costa Rica’s nine.

In the other group match, Omar Cummings scored in the 69th minute to give Jamaica their 1-0 win over El Salvador. Donovan Ricketts, as usual, had another strong game in goal for the Jamaicans with a series of fine saves. There were only 12 fouls, but each team received three yellow cards.

Chaos during the Gold Cup 2009 in group c match

It was bound to happen sooner or later. You just knew things would turn a little physical and nasty after a relatively calm Gold Cup tournament so far. Well it all came to a boiling point in a red hot Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas on July 9th as Panama held Mexico to a 1-1 draw in their Group C match before a pro-Mexican crowd of 47,000.

Three players and Mexican manager Javier Aguirre were sent off before the final whistle blew, and when it did blow, there were quite a few punch ups in the crowd and a lot of rubbish thrown onto the pitch.

It was a scrappy game from the get go and Mexico’s Luis Noriega and Panama’s Armando Gun were both sent off just before half time as a minor scuffle took place after Gun had taken down Giovani Dos Santos in a tackle.

It was just shades of things to come as more trouble started when Ricardo Phillips of Panama ran the ball into touch just in front of the Mexican bench with about 10 minutes to go in the game. Aguirre put his foot up though and impeded Phillips. The player and Aguirre then got into a bit of a shoving match and a few other players, some who were on the sidelines, got into it and came over to see what the fuss was. Phillips was then given a red card and Aguirre was sent off of the bench. While things looked like they had gotten back to normal on the pitch, some of the supporters decided to duke it out and the game was held up a few minutes.

The last few minutes were played out and it looked like the final whistle would come soon, but then Blas Perez of Panama was hit by an object thrown from the crowd in the last minute. He was given treatment, but was then hit again with another unidentified flying object as he was being stretchered off the field. This caused more flare ups in the stands.

As for the actual football match, Dos Santos set up Miguel Sabah on a nice two on one counter attack to put Mexico ahead in the 11th minute. Perez then tied the score at 1-1 in the 28th minute after a scrambly play in the Mexican box. Perez managed to stab at the ball while it was in mid air from just a few yards out and it ended up in the back of the net.

All in all there were three yellow cards given to Panama, one to Mexico, and two red cards each. But funnily enough, there were only 14 fouls committed in the game between both teams.

The result means that Mexico, with four points, needs a point from their last group game against Guadeloupe on July 12 to guarantee a spot in the quarter-finals. If they lose and Panama beats Nicaragua, then the Mexicans will be out.

Guadeloupe has already made it to the quarterfinals as Stephane Auvray and Ludovic Gotin scored a minute apart to beat Nicaragua 2-0, keeping them top in Group C with six points. The goals came in the 58th and 59th minutes.

The USA continued their fine play of late with a 2-0 win over Honduras in their Gold Cup Group B game in front of 26,000 at RFK Stadium in Washington DC on July 8th. The Americans cemented the win with two goals in the last 15 minutes.

Santino Quaranta scored his first international goal in his first game in over three years for America and then Brian Ching doubled the score on a header just four minutes later. Quaranta took in a short pass from Charlie Davies at the top of the penalty box and slammed in the goal.

“It’s hard to explain how special it is,” Quaranta said. “I was trying to tell myself all day just to enjoy it, but it was difficult.”

Quaranta hasn’t played for his country for a few years, because of admitted drug and alcohol addictions. He currently plays with D.C. United of the MLS and has cleaned himself up all the way to the national team.

“To listen to the anthem was very emotional for me,” Quaranta stated. “It’s been a fun, long road back.”

The USA extended its remarkable streak in Gold Cup group stage games to an overall record of 23-0-1 as they attempt to hold onto their title. They’re well on their way as they sit on top of Group B with six points and play Haiti on July 11th in Foxborough, Mass. A draw there would guarantee them as group champions and a spot in the quarterfinals.

Honduras (1-1) will play against Grenada the same day. Haiti is also 1-1 as they beat Grenada 2-0 in the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader.

The Americans might have thought they were the away team as the majority of the crowd seemed to be Honduran supporters. It was a bit of a physical game with each team receiving two yellow cards and committing 24 fouls between them.

In the other Group B game, Haiti beat Grenada in a wide-open, entertaining affair. Fabrice Noel put Haiti in front early with a goal in the 14th minute. It came off of a free kick by Brunel Fucien and Noel who was in the penalty area deflected it into the back of the net.

James Marcelin then put the final nail in the coffin as he buried a goal in the 78th minute. Marcelin took a pass from Raymond Ednerson, beat a defender at the inside the penalty area, and then neatly beat keeper Desmond Noel. It was a goal that was preventable though as the Grenada defender completely missed the ball as it looked like he was leaving it for the goalie to collect.

Both teams created numerous chances to score and if they could have hit the target, the score could have been quite a bit higher. Each team received two yellows and there were 23 fouls between them. It wasn’t a dirty game, but FIFA really has to sooner or later get the guts to crack down on all of the holding and tugging going on in football. It’s getting ridiculous as players are getting away with more than they do in a rugby match.

It was Haiti’s first Gold Cup win since 2002.

Canada has been doing pretty well recently, since Stephen Hart took over as manager and they won their second-straight in Group A at the Gold Cup in front of about 7,000 fans in Columbus, Ohio on July 7th. Hart has been using the 4-3-3 formation and has found it works out well for him, especially with striker Ali Gerber banging in the goals on a regular basis. Hart has an overall record of nine wins, a draw and four losses with Canada. However, he’s 4-0 with four clean sheets since retaking the job in April.

Gerber netted another one last night as Canada edged El Salvador 1-0. Gerba sealed the win with the only goal in the 32nd minute while goalkeeper Greg Sutton posted his second-straight clean sheet in the tournament.

It was Gerba’s sixth career Gold Cup goal and he became Canada’s all-time leader ahead of Carlo Corazzin who had five, all in one tournament. It was also Gerba’s fourth-straight game with a goal for Canada, tying a 24-year old record set by Dale Mitchell in 1985. Gerba now has 15 career goals, good for fourth on the Canadian list.

“From the beginning we maintained a good shape,” said Canadian Atiba Hutchinson, who was also named Man of the Match. “We moved our feet well and we kept them in front of us, which was our main objective. We wanted to push up and stay tight on the ball. We had a lot of support all around us. I thought it was a great performance defensively.”

Hart said he thought his squad played better against El Salvador than they did against Jamaica in the opener. Canada created most of the chances in the first half, however they couldn’t seem to hit the target once they got in range.

But their luck changed in the 32nd minute, with Gerba’s second goal of the competition. Paul Stalteri crossed the ball into the box, and a poor clearance was headed right onto the foot of Canadian Patrice Bernier at the top of the box. Bernier’s bouncing shot was heading toward the net and then Gerba volleyed it in to make sure.

El Salvador had a couple of chances to tie it up before half time, especially in the 40th and 44th minutes, but El Salvador had the same problem as Canada did earlier on and they couldn’t hit the net.

They finally hit the net and forced Sutton to make a great save in the 54th minute on a long-range shot from about 30 yards out. Canada still created more chances in the second half though, but couldn’t add to the lead. Canada received two yellow cards, but it was another peaceful game with only nine fouls committed between the two teams.

Canada sits at the top of Group A with six point from two games. El Salvador and Costa Rica are next with three each while Jamaica sits in last with zero points. Jamaica was beaten 1-0 by Costa Rica in last night’s other Group A match. Costa Rica takes on Canada in Florida on July 10th and El Salvador meets Jamaica the same day. They are the last games of their group stage.

In the second game of a doubleheader in Oakland, California on July 5th, Guadeloupe opened their Group C campaign with a 2-1 win over Panama. However, Panama did the majority of attacking and outshot their opponents by a 21 to 8 margin, It was also the most physical game of the Gold Cup so far, with each team earning two yellow cards and a total of 33 fouls.

Loic Loval scored once and set up David Fleurival’s goal in the first half and that was all Panama needed to seal the win and grab the precious three points. Loval opened the scoring in the 33rd minute as Panamanian defender Armando Gun tried to chest the ball back to his keeper Jaime Penedo, but Loval intercepted the back pass and slid the ball into the net from about six yards out.

It was another example of why the back pass to the goalie should only be made as a last resort. Time and time again defenders are just too lazy and unimaginative to do anything else with the ball so they pass it back to their keeper with disastrous results. It’s one of the worst moves in football and it actually looks good on the defender when the ball ends up in the back of the net.

Loval then set up Fleurival for a cracking goal 10 minutes later to double the score at 2-0. Fleurival chipped the ball from about 35 yards out and it sailed over Penedo’s head and into the top right-hand corner of the net.

Panama got back into the game and made it 2-1 when Nelson Barahona scored in the 68th minute. He snagged the rebound after teammate Blas Perez misfired on his bicycle kick. Panama had a number of chances, but Marius Fausta was very steady in goal as he made seven saves for Guadeloupe.

Guadeloupe manager coach Roger Salnot believes his squad might be able to cause some damage in this year’s tournament and stated, “It all comes down to the players showing their talent, showing their qualities. We have the talent.”

Keeper Fausta wouldn’t have normally gotten the chance to show how good a goalie he is, but regular keeper Franck Grandel, who was the top goalie in 2007 Gold Cup, went home to France the day before the game as he’s out with a from a shoulder injury.

Even though Panama outshot Guadeloupe and created quite a few chances, their manager Gary Stempel said it wasn’t good enough. “More than anything, I’m disappointed with the way we played in the first half. In the second half it was a much, much different team. It took us a little time to settle into the game. They settled into the game much quicker than we did, that’s obvious.”

Guadeloupe is in action again on Thursday July 9th as they take on Nicaragua at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, while Panama takes on Mexico in the match right afterwards.

Mexico and Guadeloupe sit on top of the group with three points each. Mexico has a plus two goal difference to Guadeloupe’s plus one. Panama, and Nicaragua are pointless, with Nicaragua last because of goal difference.

Mexico has done quite a bit better since the often-sacked Sven Goran Eriksson was rightly booted out as manager in April. They now play an attacking style like they used to and it paid off in their opening Group C game of the Gold Cup in as they beat Nicaragua 2-0 in front of 32,000 fans on July 5th in Oakland, California.

Javier Aguirre is the new boss and he’s definitely not the same as the old boss. He watched as his young squad pressed the action and created numerous chances against the defensive-minded Nicaraguans in his fifth game in charge of Mexico.

The game got of too a bard start for the Mexicans though as striker Carlos Vela, who plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League, injured his leg just minutes after the kick off. He collided with a Nicaraguan and fell to the ground. He went off for a few minutes, but then came back on and it looked like he might be okay, but he then went off for good in the 10th minute as he was substituted. The 20-year-old took an ambulance to the hospital for X-rays and it’s not clear yet if he’ll be back for the next game.

“When he fell, he got his foot stuck and got a twinge in his leg,” Aguirre stated after the match. “We hope it’s only a scare. We hope we confirm there’s nothing broken and he can continue with us. If it’s a worst-case scenario, we’ll tell you guys who we’re bringing to replace him.”

Just before half time, Nicaragua midfielder Armando Reyes fouled Israel Martinez from behind in the penalty box and Luis Miguel Noriega scored his first international goal on the ensuing penalty kick. It was Noriega’s official national team debut. Second-half substitute Pablo Barrera then doubled the score in the 86th minute and that closed the door on the hopes of any comeback by Nicaragua. Barrera tapped the ball into the net from about seven yards out on a great cross from Alberto Medina on the right wing.

The Gold Cup is an important event for the relatively young and inexperienced Mexican side and they will use it to try and get back on track for the remaining World Cup qualifiers after Eriksson derailed them. Their next qualifier is on Aug. 12 and it will be a huge game played before about 100,000 fanatics in Mexico City. Mexico sits in fourth place in the CONCACAF qualifying standings for next year’s World Cup in South Africa with a 2-3 record, which is unusually low for them, and only the top three teams will make it.

If they can’t get back in the groove, it’s possible they could miss the World cup and that will be seen as a national disaster back in Mexico. However, they have an amazing unbeaten record of 22-0-1 against the US at home so it should be quite a game as the US is pretty hot right now.

However, Aguirre said they’re only concerned with the Gold Cup at the moment and he was happy to see his side attack all game long, outshooting Nicaragua 18 to 6. Giovani Dos Santos had a great game for Mexico as he wasn’t afraid to take defenders on with his dribbling skills and speed.

Mexico lost the 2007 Gold Cup final to America and both countries have won the tournament four times each.

Mexico’s next Gold Cup match is July 9th in Houston, Texas, against Panama, who were beaten 2-1 to Guadeloupe in the first match of the double header in Oakland on July 5th.

The Gold Cup continued over the weekend with games on July 4th and 5th. The United States, ranked 12th in the world by FIFA and fresh of their Confederations Cup Final loss to Brazil, were in great form as they rendered a 4-0 hammering to Grenada. The score could have been quite a bit higher as they outshot Grenada 25 to 3 in the Group B match.

The Americans fielded a young and somewhat altered lineup to the Confederations Cup squad, but still looked effective and strong on their quest for a third-straight Gold Cup title.

“Today is important to start the Gold Cup the right way,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley stated after the game in Seattle, Washington “It was a really good team effort, four different guys scored tonight, so all things are important.”

Young star Freddy Adu scored the opener pretty early as he hit the back of the net in the seventh minute. He was on the end of a cross from the left wing and beat Grenada goalie Desmond Noel from close to the penalty spot. It was Adu’s second goal only for the US.

Stuart Holden made it 2-0 in the 31st minute. Both goals were set up Robbie Rogers, who also got on the board himself with a goal in the 60th minute. Holden who was making his international debut became the first American to score in his first game since Eddie Robinson scored against Sweden in January 2008. It was Rogers’ first goal and he was playing in only his second game for the US.

Charlie Davies, who is one of the few players who played in the Confederations Cup, got the fourth and final goal in the 68th minute. It was his third at the international level

The American youngsters were definitely a little on the inexperienced side as seven of the starters had a total of 11 international appearances between them and goalie Troy Perkins was playing in just his second game for his country.

Most of the regular starters were left off the 23-man roster so they could head back to their MLS teams or take a break before heading over to European before the new season starts. However, in a strange twist, CONCACAF then decided to allow the Americans to add seven more players to their squad, making it 30. Some of the extra players could be up later on in the tournament.

The Americans have an amazing 22-0-1 in group play in the history of the Gold Cup and see action against Honduras on July 8 in Washington.

The game had a bit of a party atmosphere to it as it was played in front of about 15,000 fans on July 4th, the American Independence Day holiday, which is a huge event for the States.

It is Grenada’s first appearance in the Gold Cup and their third overall match against the Americans. They lost the first two in 2004 in qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup.

“I didn’t think we passed the ball that well,” Grenada manager Tommy Taylor, a former West Ham defender, said. “I think we got about three or four shots in 90 minutes, and that isn’t enough to win anything. We need to work up and move as a unit, as well as come back as a unit.”

Honduras beat Haiti 1-0 in Seattle, Washington, on July 4th in the opening Group B games for both teams. Carlos Costly scored the winner as he headed in a Walter Martinez free kick in the 76th minute.

Martinez drove in his cross on the free kick from the left side of the penalty area and Costly jumped for it and directed the ball into right corner of the net. Haitian goalkeeper Jean Dominique Zephrin didn’t really have a chance to save it.

Costly has been on a bit of a streak lately as he has four goals in the current World Cup qualifying for Honduras. He nearly doubled the score just a few minutes later, but his 35-yard drive at the wide-open net was kicked off the line at the last second by Haiti’s Pierre Richard Bruny.

Haiti started the game well and had a couple of chances to take the lead, however Honduran keeper Donis Escober was up to the task. He dove to grab the ball from the foot of Fabrice Noel right in front of the net in the 19th minute. Noel then came close a bit later on as his 25-yard shot just went wide of the left post in the 32nd minute.

Honduras then created some chances of their own towards the end of the first half as Martinez tried his luck from 10 yards out, but his shot was saved at the post by keeper Jean Dominique Zephrin. Then just before the whistle, Nery Medina hammered a drive from 30 yards away from the right wing and it looked like it might sneak in the upper left corner, but Zephrin made a great save and knocked it out of harm’s way at the last second.

It was another pretty tame game, like all of the Gold Cup matches so far, with each team picking up two yellow cards each. There were just 16 fouls committed in the match. Even though there hasn’t really been a lot of intensity in the tournament so far, the majority of matches have been pretty entertaining with some goal scoring chances created by each team.

Perhaps the work rate will pick up once the knockout round starts. And it’s going to take a poor performance not to make the next stage as eight of the 12 teams in the Cup will move on to the playoffs. The top two teams in each group as well as the two best third-place teams.

The United States and Honduras share top spot in Group B with three points each after the first round of matches, but the Americans have a better goal difference after their 4-0 thumping over Grenada in the opening game of the double header in Seattle. Haiti and Grenada are both tied at the bottom of the group with no points.

Honduras will take on the United States on July 8th in Washington, D.C., in the second of its three Group B games. Haiti will play Grenada on the same day in Washington.