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2009 Gold Cup set to kick off

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The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup kicks off tonight as 11 teams try to take the crown away from the U.S.national team.

The United States is fresh from its Confederations Cup final appearance and will be fielding a B team in this tournament. It is not alone in that regard, with Mexico also leaving most of its top European players home. Costa Rica, leaders in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, is also missing some players but has a close to full-strength squad, which should make the World Cup Qualifying group leaders the favorite to edge out traditional powers Mexico and USA for the title.

For a good preview of the tournament, give Jeff Carlisle's ESPN.com Gold Cup preview a read. For a more U.S.-focused story, you can read my ESPN.com piece on the U.S. Gold Cup team. For all the info you might need on the tournament, there's no place better than the Gold Cup website.

The action kicks off tonight at Home Depot Center with Group A, the tournament's Group of Death (if you can have one in this tournament) as Canada and Jamaica get things started with one of the better match-ups of the first round.

Here is this weekend's schedule of Gold Cup matches:

Weekend Gold Cup Schedule

TONIGHT (at Home Depot Center)

  • Canada vs. Jamaica, 8pm (Galavision)

  • Costa Rica vs. El Salvador, 10pm (Telefutura)

SATURDAY (at Qwest Field)

  • Honduras vs. Haiti, 7pm (Galavision)
  • USA vs. Grenada, 9pm (Fox Soccer Channel)

SUNDAY (at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum)

  • Panama vs. Guadeloupe, 5pm (Galavision)

  • Nicaragua vs. Mexico, 7pm (Univision)

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What match or matches will you be watching this weekend? What team do you see winning the tournament? Who do you think is the U.S. team's biggest competition for the tournament?

You are welcome to share your thoughts on the tournament, and on tonight's matches, in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. I’ve been telling you guys…Costa Rica can’t win away from Saprissa (accept maybe against weakest CONCACAF teams). They are the most overrated team in our region. The only team in the Hex they are better than is TNT – results away from Saprissa in WCQ only 27% of the time since 1990 (well below Hon, El Salv, USA, Mex). I can’t wait from them to start playing in their new stadium. They will be exposed as the frauds they are (unless they take the Astroturf they got on discount from Houston a few years back with them).

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  2. El Salvador and Costa Rica played an entertaining match, at least from what I saw. The game had an exciting pace and flow with both teams playing very aggressive. I definitely didn’t feel that it was a choppy match.

    Costa Rica is at the top of Concacaf for a reason, and El Salvador has improved each game they’ve played. The US was lucky to get out of El Salvador with a tie. Had El Salvador’s keeper not gone out with an injury, the US would have lost that game as well. They both deserve the points they got from the US.

    Also, to say that the US could go toe to toe with Spain and Brazil and consistently get results like they did in the Confederations Cup (a win and a loss) would be silly.

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  3. @Iammetro

    I’m so happy to have made your day. My comment had nothing to do with their style of play. I apologize for obviously not making that clear.

    To reference the NFL, both the Patriots and the Rams utilize a version of the west coast offense. However, NE plays it with more talent, and therefore is MUCH better than STL.

    This is why I feel every bit justified in lamenting our loss/tie to those teams…NOT because of their style of play, but because our talent is demonstrably superior to theirs.

    I laugh in the face of someone who suggests that *anyone* else (aside from maybe Mexico…MAYBE) in CONCACAF could have gone toe to toe with Spain and Brazil and achieved the same results. Not Costa Rica and CERTAINLY not El Salvador.

    Their quality of touches is what led me to calling them hacks. Although the second SLV goal was nicely done, the rest of the game was collision, flop, shank, skyball, then launch over the crossbar.

    My pleasure to serve.

    Be Champions!

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  4. Johnny, the US games in the Gold Cup were scheduled to be shown by FSC before the Confederations Cup ever began.

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  5. Does anyone think we should see Santino Quaranta tomorrow? I’d like to see him make a substitute appearance. He was a good player before the rehab thing.

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  6. i love comments like the ones made by fulham pete. People act like the US style is any better. If anything, El Salvador uses tactics closer to the US. They defend well, and counter attack. If you don’t like them thats fine. But at least know your competition’s style of play. Hate them for what they really do, not some bogus, uneducated, and without facts reason.

    Concacaf is not as bad as everyone else thinks. The teams here are getting stronger. Mexico is the only one getting weaker.

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  7. I love how the camera mysteriously went black for a moment as security was beating that guy off the field.

    That was a pretty good crowd for ES, if attendance at the other games is as good as this one that pretty much explains why the Gold Cup is held so often. $$

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  8. Watching CRC-SLV. How in Hell did we LOSE to these hacks? And we TIED SLV. We must have been on a down biorhythm.

    These teams are awful.

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  9. El Salvador is for real. That second goal against Costa Rica was golden. I just love the spanish commentary. I don’t know a word of spanish but I understand it more than when those guys talk English on ESPN.

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  10. Can’t wait. No offense to any Grenadians or Grenadian-Americans that happen to be around be we’re gonna kick ass….

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  11. Really? Fox Soccer Channel can’t tear itself away from Premier League Classics to broadcast the rest of the tournament in English?

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