By JUSTIN FERGUSON
With four teams eliminated after the group stage, the final eight are set in the battle for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The quarterfinal round will kick off with two matches from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. After a last-second goal capped its thrilling group stage finale, Cuba will look to continue its stay in the tournament with a win over Panama, who pulled off two narrow wins before a scoreless draw with Canada.
After the Cuba-Panama match, all eyes will be on Mexico, who take on Trinidad & Tobago. El Tri has rebounded from an opening loss with back-to-back multi-goal victories, but the pressure is still on manager Jose Manuel de la Torre and the rest of his squad as they look for a third straight Gold Cup title.
Some action from Europe and Liga MX will bookend Saturday’s Gold Cup quarterfinals. After recording a treble last season, Bayern Munich will face their first domestic competition of the campaign with a match against Hamburg in the Telekom Cup, a German preseason mini-tournament. In Mexico, new-look Atlante will cap off an evening of Liga MX openers with a road meeting with Leon.
If you will be watching today’s action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Today’s TV schedule is after the jump):
9:30am – beIN Sport – Indonesia XI vs Liverpool
12:30pm – beIN Sport – Hamburger SV vs Bayern Munich
3:30pm – Fox Soccer Channel – Panama vs Cuba – Gold Cup
4pm – MLS Direct Kick – Toronto vs New York Red Bulls
4pm – MLS Direct Kick – Seattle Sounders vs Colorado Rapids
6:30pm – Fox Soccer Channel – Mexico vs Trinidad and Tobago – Gold Cup
7pm – MLS Direct Kick – Montreal Impact vs Dallas
7:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Columbus Crew vs New England
7:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Philadelphia Union vs Portland Timbers
8:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Chicago Fire vs DC United
9:05pm – Telemundo – León vs Atlante
10pm – MLS Direct Kick – Real Salt Lake vs Sporting Kansas CIty
10:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – LA Galaxy vs Vancouver Whitecaps