By IVES GALARCEP
The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup schedule was announced on Wednesday and the U.S. Men’s National Team was placed in a group alongside Costa Rica, Belize and Cuba.
The Americans will face Belize at Jeld-Wen Field in Portland on July 9th before traveling to Salt Lake City to take on Cuba on July 13th. The finish group place on July 16th in East Hartford, Connecticut when they meet Costa Rica in a clash of HEX participants.
As reported by SBI in February, the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup final will be held at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 28th.
The U.S. Team’s tournament opener in Portland at Jeld-Wen Field will mark the first time the USMNT has played in Portland since May 24, 1998.
Here are the groups for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup:
GROUP A: Mexico, Panama, Canada, Martinique
GROUP B: Honduras, El Salvador, Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti
GROUP C: USA, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba
———
The quarterfinals will take place at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and M&T Bank Arena in Baltimore on July 21st, while the semifinals will be held at Cowboys Stadium on July 24th.
The teams taking part in the HEX (Mexico, USA, Costa Rica and Honduras) are likely not to send full-strength teams to the Gold Cup due to the fact all are playing three World Cup qualifying matches in June (and Mexico is taking part in the Confederations Cup as well).
Here is the complete Gold Cup Schedule:
2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup Schedule
(local time followed by EDT time)
First Round
Sunday, July 7 – Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA)
Canada vs. Martinique, 2:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. EDT)
Mexico vs. Panama, 5:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. EDT)
Monday, July 8 – Red Bull Arena (Harrison, NJ)
El Salvador vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 7 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)
Haiti vs. Honduras, 9:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. EDT)
Tuesday, July 9 – JELD-WEN Field (Portland, OR)
Costa Rica vs. Cuba, 5:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. EDT)
Belize vs. USA, 8 p.m. (11 p.m. EDT)
Thursday, July 11 – CenturyLink Field (Seattle, WA)
Panama vs. Martinique, 5:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. EDT)
Mexico vs. Canada, 8 p.m. (11 p.m. EDT)
Friday, July 12 – Sun Life Stadium (Miami, FL)
Trinidad & Tobago vs. Haiti, 7 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)
Honduras vs. El Salvador, 9:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. EDT)
Saturday, July 13 – Rio Tinto Stadium (Salt Lake City, UT)
USA vs. Cuba, 1:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. EDT)
Costa Rica vs. Belize, 4:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. EDT)
Sunday, July 14 – Sports Authority Field at Mile High (Denver, CO)
Martinique vs. Mexico, 2 p.m. (4 p.m. EDT)
Panama vs. Canada, 4:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. EDT)
Monday, July 15 – BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, TX)
El Salvador vs. Haiti, 6 p.m. (7 p.m. EDT)
Honduras vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 8:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. EDT)
Tuesday, July 16 – Rentschler Field (Hartford, CT)
Cuba vs. Belize, 5:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. EDT)
USA vs. Costa Rica, 8 p.m. (8 p.m. EDT)
Quarterfinals
Saturday, July 20 – Georgia Dome (Atlanta, GA)
Group A runner-up vs. Group B runner-up, TBD (x)
Group A winner vs. Group B/C third-place, TBD (x)
x-matches scheduled for 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. local (3 p.m. and 6 p.m. EDT) with order TBD
Sunday, July 21 – M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD)
Group B winner vs. Group C runner-up, TBD (y)
Group C winner vs. Group A/B third place, TBD (y)
y-matches scheduled for 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. local (4 p.m. and 7 p.m. EDT) with order TBD
Semifinals
Wednesday, July 24 – Cowboys Stadium (Arlington, TX)
X quarterfinal winners, TBD (z)
Y quarterfinal winners, TBD (z)
z-matches scheduled for 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. local (7 p.m. and 10 p.m. EDT) with order TBD
Final
Sunday, July 28 – Soldier Field (Chicago, IL)
Semifinal winners, 3 p.m. (4 p.m. EDT)
What do you think of the U.S. match-ups? Think the Americans can reach the final given the likelihood Jurgen Klinsmann will send a B team?
Share your thoughts below.