Eternal rivals meet once again in a Gold Cup final
Mexico will square off in Chicago versus Team USA in a rivalry match for the Gold Cup title.
Mexico did not look convincing in their 1-0 win over Haiti in the Gold Cup semifinals. Their performance was listless throughout the 90 minutes of regulation and the game was scoreless as overtime began.
Mexico had superior possession (70%), attempting 814 passes during the course of the match, compared to Haiti’s 30% possession and 352 passes attempted. No matter how you look at it, Gerardo Martino’s squad deserved the win. Let’s give credit when credit is due.
Despite the media feeding frenzy before the tournament regarding the number of top Mexican players that were skipping the Gold Cup. Still, many us of figured Mexico would reach the final and El Tri has turned out to be pretty tough considering that this is the first time the majority of the players have played together under a new scheme.
The US men’s national team will be a major challenge for “Tata” Martino and Team Mexico on Sunday night. The Americans will be easily favored primarily because of their impressive goal differential in the tournament – 15 goals scored and only 1 goal conceded.
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With two goals from star player Christian Pulisic and one by Weston McKennie, the US team confidently defeated Jamaica in Wednesday’s semifinal, booking their ticket in the Gold Cup final showdown against rival Mexico at Soldier Field in Chicago. The defending champions will seek to claim their seventh Gold Cup trophy, tying Mexico’s record. The two teams already played a Gold Cup final in this venue, back in 2007 when the Americans defeated Mexico 2-1.
Prediction
The two most decorated teams in Concacaf, each with a new coach on the sideline, will provide for an entertaining match-up. This game could go either way, but if the US national team scores first, I don’t see Mexico bouncing back. Hopefully it is a close game and El Tri gets off to a good start. I am certainly rooting for the underdog and I am hoping Mexico wins.