Gold Cup 2017: 3 favorites to win
The Gold Cup begins this week. There are 12 teams competing but only three that have a legitimate chance to win. Here they are.
The Gold Cup kicks of this Friday, July 7, when French Guiana face Canada at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey. Here, we take a look at the three favorites to lift the trophy.
United States
The USMNT won’t be at their strongest at this year’s Gold Cup, but remain one of the best teams in the tournament. Bruce Arena opted not to select some of his more high-profile players, telling Sports Illustrated‘s Grant Wahl that they needed a break after a grueling club season:
"“It’s bad timing for [the Gold Cup], because the guys in Europe have gone through this long club season and now the World Cup qualifiers. They need a break. They have three weeks off, and asking them to come in for Gold Cup makes no sense. It would take three weeks to get them ready.”"
Arena is able to bring in up to six replacements for the knockout rounds, but it seems unlikely he selects any of the USMNT’s biggest stars based on those comments. That changes expectations for the U.S., but they’ll be hoping to go deep in the tournament anyway.
Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez, Alejandro Bedoya and Graham Zusi all have plenty of experience at the international level, while Dax McCarty should have a big role to play. The Chicago Fire midfielder is in the middle of another excellent MLS season, and though his chances for the national team have been limited in the past, he has the talent to be a key player in this tournament.
As for the younger guys, Kellyn Acosta, who has been creeping closer to Arena’s first XI over the past year, will be hoping to stake a claim to a starting spot going forward. Jordan Morris is another trying to move up the pecking order in a team not short on attacking options.
It will be interesting to see how Arena lines up his side given the lack of some big names, but there’s no question the U.S. have the talent to win this tournament, especially with Mexico also fielding a weakened team.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica qualify as an underdog in this tournament simply by virtue of not being the U.S. or Mexico, who have combine to win all but one of the 13 Gold Cups since 1991. But they come into the tournament having beaten the U.S. 4-0 in World Cup qualifying last November, and are currently second in the Hex.
Costa Rica’s biggest advantage is that they’ll be taking their first-choice team. Mexico and the U.S. could call up some of their bigger players for the knockout rounds, but even then Costa Rica will have had the advantage of playing their way into form, with their best team, through the group stage.
Joel Campbell, Bryan Oviedo, Bryan Ruiz and Marco Urena will all be present, and are good enough to do damage against any team in the tournament. Costa Rica still face a big task to beat the U.S. and Mexico, but this year may be their best opportunity.
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Mexico
Mexico qualified for two tournaments this summer, the Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup. Juan Carlos Osorio decided to take his best players to the Confederations Cup, where they were knocked out in the semis by Germany, and, like the U.S., will send a weakened side to the Gold Cup.
Jose de Jesus Corona is the most experienced member of the squad with 42 caps, but only five other members of the squad have made double-digit appearances for the national team, and one of them’s a goalkeeper.
Osorio, like Arena, has the option to call up some of his bigger names in the knockout rounds, but if he were planning to do that, it’s unclear why he wouldn’t have included them to begin with. He could always keep them on the bench during the group stage.
Still, while Mexico’s squad might be weak by their standards, it’s strong by those of most any other team in the tournament. They’ve won the competition a record seven times and will be in contention to make it eight this summer.