Gold Cup Highlights (After the First Round of Group Stage Games)

July 6th, 2009 | by: Laurie | Comments(8)

The first round of CONCACAF Gold Cup group play has been completed. A couple of surprising results, a couple expected. So how did the games play out?

Group A

El Salvador 2-1 Costa Rica

Shock loss for the Ticos, who came into the Cup as one of the favorites after thrashing the US in a World Cup qualifier and taking the lead in CONCACAF qualifying. But that counts for precisely squat-all in Gold Cup. William Romero was the hero for El Salvador, scoring both goals — one in the 20th and the other in the 86th. Warren Granados was able to equalize the first time for Costa Rica, but the second goal put it beyond reach. Costa Rica is now facing a tougher battle than expected to escape from the group stages.

Canada 1-0 Jamaica

LA Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts had a solid game, but he couldn’t stop the one opportunistic volley by Canada’s Ali Gerba. And the Reggae Boyz now face Costa Rica in a game where both will be out for blood.

Group B

Honduras 1-0 Haiti

First off, I had no idea Seattle had such a large Honduran population, but they were at the stadium en masse to cheer their team. (And the beer vendors are grateful.) Not much happened in this game until Carlos Costly headed home a free kick in th 75th. And then not much happened afterwards. But this was enough to create and continue the party for all of the wonderful Honduran folks sitting around us in the stadium. Next up? USA.

USA 4-0 Grenada

Grenada is the smallest nation ever to make it to the Gold Cup. So well done, them. Unfortunately a nation of 110,000 (according to Wikipedia) is generally not going to have the futbol firepower to overcome a country the size of the US, even when the US is playing their B team. This proved to be the case in spades here. US Goalkeeper Troy Perkins had to make only one save, and the US defense spent most of the game twiddling their thumbs.

The Columbus Crew’s Robbie Rogers was definitely man of the match, notching two assists before picking up a lovely solo goal of his own. Other goalscorers were Freddy Adu, Stuart Holden and Charlie Davies.

Group C

Mexico 2-0 Nicaragua

Good start and good news for Mexico in the early era of new (or new again) coach Javier Aguirre. And since Mexico has been hard-pressed to find either lately, I’m pretty sure they’ll take it. A penalty in the 45th minute by Luis Noriega started the fun, and an 85th minute goal by Pablo Barrera (which I could not find video for) sealed the deal.

(By the way, I believe the ball-under-the-shirt after the penalty is known as the “pregnancy goal celebration.” Because…yea. Why not?)

Guadeloupe 2-1 Panama

And in the surprise of the group, my favorite minnow team, Guadeloupe, shocked Central American champions Panama with a 2-1 game. FIFA doesn’t even consider Guadeloupe a country; for most international football purposes, they’re considered part of France. Yet here they are again, just like in 2007 (where they advanced to the Gold Cup semis), taking out larger and more powerful teams.

Guadeloupe’s Loic Laval seized on a bad clearance (possibly an attempt to chest it back to the goalkeeper?) and chipped the ball over said goalkeeper for the first goal. Then David Fleurival put in a rocket strike for Guadaloupe from about 40 yards out for the second. Panama’s Nelson Barahona pulled one back in the 68th, but that was all they could muster. And tiny Guadeloupe has a chance of going through to the knockout stages yet again.

The action continues today tomorrow (July 7) with Group A games: Jamaica vs. Costa Rica and El Salvador vs. Canada. Full schedule available here.