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SBI’s staff Gold Cup picks

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As it turns out, the SBI staff is a pretty predictable bunch.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup gets underway on Sunday, and all of SBI's polled staffers are picking a USA-Mexico final. Recent history would dictate that to be the case, though, as the two rivals have reached the final in each of the last two Gold Cups.

There's a 6-3 split about who wins the 2011 final, though, and there's some dissention about who will win Group B and which third-place finishers will qualify for the knockout stage.

Want to check out who picked what? Check out SBI's staff Gold Cup picks after the jump:

IVES GALARCEP

Group A – Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cuba 

Group B – Honduras, Jamaica, Guatemala, Grenada

Group C – USA, Canada, Guadeloupe, Panama

Quarterfinals

Costa Rica over Jamaica

Mexico over Guadeloupe

Canada over Honduras

USA over Guatemala

Semifinals

Mexico over Costa Rica

USA over Canada

Final

USA over Mexico

AVI CREDITOR

Group A – Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cuba

Group B – Jamaica, Honduras, Guatemala, Grenada

Group C – USA, Canada, Guadeloupe, Panama

Quarterfinals

Costa Rica over Honduras

Mexico over Guadeloupe

Jamaica over Canada

USA over Guatemala

Semifinals

Mexico over Costa Rica

USA over Jamaica

Final

USA over Mexico

MIKE NASTRI

Group A – Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cuba

Group B – Jamaica, Honduras, Guatemala, Grenada

Group C – USA, Canada, Panama, Guadeloupe

Quarterfinals

Costa Rica over Honduras

Mexico over Panama

Canada over Jamaica

USA over Guatemala

Semifinals

Mexico over Costa Rica

USA over Canada

Final

Mexico over USA

ADAM SERRANO

Group A – Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cuba

Group B – Jamaica, Honduras, Guatemala, Grenada

Group C – USA, Guadeloupe, Canada, Panama

Quarterfinals

Costa Rica over Honduras

Mexico over Canada

Jamaica over Guadeloupe

USA over Guatemala

Semifinals

Mexico over Costa Rica

USA over Jamaica

Final

USA over Mexico

THOMAS FLOYD

Group A – Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cuba

Group B – Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica, Grenada

Group C – USA, Canada, Panama, Guadeloupe

Quarterfinals

Costa Rica over Guatemala

Mexico over Panama

Canada over Honduras

USA over Jamaica

Semifinals

Mexico over Costa Rica

USA over Canada

Final

USA over Mexico

FRANCO PANIZO

Group A – Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cuba

Group B – Jamaica, Honduras, Guatemala, Grenada

Group C – USA, Canada, Panama, Guadeloupe

Quarterfinals

Costa Rica over Honduras

Mexico over Panama

Canada over Jamaica

USA over El Salvador

Semifinals

Mexico over Costa Rica

USA over Canada

Final

Mexico over USA

JOSE ROMERO

Group A – Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Cuba

Group B – Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica, Grenada

Group C – USA, Guadeloupe, Canada, Panama

Quarterfinals

El Salvador over Guatemala

Mexico over Canada

Honduras over Guadeloupe

USA over Costa Rica

Semifinals

Mexico over El Salvador

USA over Honduras

Final

USA over Mexico

JOHN BOSCHINI

Group A – Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cuba

Group B – Honduras, Jamaica, Guatemala, Grenada

Group C – USA, Canada, Guadeloupe, Panama

Quarterfinals 

Jamaica over Costa Rica

Mexico over Guatemala

Honduras over Canada

USA over El Salvador

Semifinals

Mexico over Jamaica

USA over Honduras

Final

Mexico over USA

CALEB SONNELAND

Group A – Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cuba 

Group B – Honduras, Jamaica, Guatemala, Grenada

Group C – USA, Canada, Panama, Guadeloupe

Quarterfinals

Costa Rica over Jamaica

Mexico over Panama

Honduras over Canada

USA over Guatemala

Semifinals

Mexico over Costa Rica

USA over Honduras

Final

USA over Mexico

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What are your picks for the Gold Cup? Do you see anybody other than the USA and Mexico reaching the final?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. is this “who you want to win” or “who you think will win”.

    i realize this is a US blog, but cmon. even as a fan of the USMNT, there’s absolutely no way we have an edge over mexico.

    Reply
  2. Not sure what video you’re are watching because Bradley looked fine to me.

    On a sidenote: It seems to me there is a mysterious player in the video. I can’t figure out who it is. He’s black, but it’s definitely not Jozy, Freddy, Gooch, Jermaine, or Edu. Who is it? He’s playing defense on Dolo from 2:13 and 2:19. He also intercepts the ball at 2:34

    (SBI-Could be Duke defender and Houston Dynamo Academy product Sebastian Ibheaga, who was training with the team as a guest player.)

    Reply
  3. Whatever I’ll give em credit for actually being able to pull it off, unlike us. All I’m saying is it sure helps when you play all your games in the Azteca.

    Wasn’t the 1999 Confederations Cup, one of those “weird” Confederations Cups where it wasn’t held in the summer prior to the World Cup? I doubt Brazil’s or really anybody’s roster was “full strength”. Looks like Brazil had an almost exclusively domestic roster for the 1999 tournament. Hell we even beat Germany 2-0 and only lost to Brazil 1-0.

    Reply
  4. Detroit’s closer to most of you guys than it is to most of us 😛
    But sure, you can say you’re coming too since you are crossing the border and all.

    Reply
  5. I watched that same video and came to the opposite conclusion on Bradley – from what I saw, he was dictating the pace for his side, making good passes to get the attack going, etc. But in that three-minutes span, Bornstein also looked solid, so you know the video can’t be telling the whole story.

    I wish ussoccer.com had posted that entire scrimmage, but even those few minutes were pretty cool to watch.

    Reply
  6. Are y’all talking about the most recent inside the lines vid? From what I saw Bradley looked fine (with the exception of one bad pass that bounced right back to him), while Cherundolo, Agudelo, and Jozy looked particularly strong. I barely saw Adu in there.

    Reply
  7. Hey Whitehart, don’t try to steal my handle of “Whitehartlane”, can’t believe they are letting you post your nonsense with a stolen handle, what a p.o.s.

    I will choose someone other than USA to make the finals, I don’t think USA under BB is going to get to the finals, if Honduras slip up in their group or we don’t come top, a quarterfinal exit (and an exit for BB) against them is a serious possibility, all the predictions listed by SBI all assume USA finish top of the group or that Guatemala will finish 3rd in their group, fwiw.

    How lucky has BB been? We are still the only team to qualify from a FIFA competition 4 team group with 2 losses AND a negative goal difference (Confed Cup in S. Africa).

    It is my feeling that BB’s luck, has and will finally run out in the Copa Oro.

    Reply
  8. While I get your point about practice, I’m not sure I really agree. Rico Clark and Findley both played decent enough in practice to get starts and then promptly stunk it up on the field. Bradley, on the other hand, plays consistently well for the Nats, imo.

    Reply
  9. Interesting, because Mexico is hosting a WC this summer. Didn’t know that Granada, Guadalupe, Costa Rica, ect had large immigrant population here.

    Reply
  10. Mexico can very well trip with Costa Rica. La Volpe is a fantastic trainer that knows El TRI backward and forwards. He’s the man who brought in Salcido, Osorio, Guardado into the fold. That can be the match of the tourney depending on what the other results at that point are!

    Reply
  11. Let’s hope the final is quality stuff. That’s all I’m hoping for. If it’s the US vs Mex, as I also think it will be, let’s hope they honor the most important tournament in the region by spilling their guts on the field before the final whistle is blown. That’s the only way other confederations will respect ours.

    Reply
  12. Ok let’s see the US beat Brazil on any stadium anywhere in the US to win the final of any official FIFA tournament!

    Tell me when, I’ll be there!

    Reply
  13. The U.S. has beaten Mexico countless times when Mexico had the better team on paper, particularly on American soil. I think the match-up this time around is a complete toss up, and I would not blame anyone for picking either team.

    Reply
  14. Hey buddy give credit where credit is due!

    Using your logic if Mexico would have played the final of the 1970 WC vs Brazil Mexico would’ve won!

    I saw that final and it was brilliant and both MEX and Brasil could have won. But Mexico was as good as it gets, and beat an amazing Brazil. It’s not like they beat American Samoa to win the final.

    And i’m Brazilian

    Reply
  15. You are of course welcome to your opinions….but it gets old when you are railing on a specific player (all the time) in an article not related to MB as an individual. You were the first to bring him up, and turned the board to a different subject.

    Reply
  16. Yeah and Dida, Flavio Conceicao, Serginho, Alex, Ze Roberto and Ronaldinho also took it with a grain of salt!

    You are a FOOL!

    Reply
  17. the 09 gold cup shouldnt even count there charlie davies was the closest to a first team player that was on the roster which was before he had been playing well and mexico still had the likes of guys like vela and dos santos on their squad. troy perkins was the us’s starting keeper…that says alot about the validity of that tournament

    Reply
  18. For what its worth… FIFA ranks the US 10 spots higher than Mexico. Will be interesting to see which team considers it a home game given the expected crowd dynamic in Pasadena.

    Reply
  19. SBI Mafia Gold Cup Final pub crawl in Pasadena! Our Old Town district is great for it. There is even a Peruvian restaurant for Ives.

    Reply
  20. I agree with you that Adrian can be a pretty biased poster, not a troll though. But this time he has it right, I watched that video and Bradley just looks off the pace. The rest of the team is so much more active than him.

    It is only a 4 minute video though.

    Reply
  21. ROFL

    The man is a troll for saying that he watched videos of the players in question and issued an opinion?

    Have you watched the videos? Michael Bradley does look horrible.

    Reply
  22. How is Adrian a troll?

    Pretty much everything I’ve read from the guy is on point. Oh wait, that’s right. If you speak ill of Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan or Jozy Altidore you’re labeled a troll.

    Reply

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