Gold Cup Nightly: Group A, Matchday Two

Photo From CONCACAF

Canada’s Gold Cup mastery continued with a 1-0 win over El Salvador. The Canadians who last made the Hexagonal round of World Cup qualifying in 1997, have generally been one of the most dangerous teams in this competition. Julian De  Guzman is making a strong case to be considered the best player  in this competition. He was far and away the best player in the 2007 tournament, and thus far this year you’d be hard pressed to find someone with as much class and skill. Ali Gerba scored his second goal of the tournament with a nice redirection of Patrice Bernier’s errand shot.

Gerba has now scored six goals in three Gold Cup competitions. While he has yet to explode in a single game the way Landon Donovan or DaMarcus Beasley have when playing Cuba, the new TFC and former Montreal Impact striker has to be now considered among the great attacking players in the history of this tournament.

Will Johnson also looked good in this game as did the reliable Atiba Hutchinson. Canada is looking strong going into the final group game in Miami versus Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 1  Jamaica 0

Jair Marufo struck at Crew Stadium again. Much like an earlier visit to Crew Stadium this year, the result of this match will be shrouded in controversy. Jamaica had controlled the match up until the 35th minute sending off by Marufo of Reggee Boyz midfielder Rodolph Austin on a frivolous call. Prior to that point Jamaica’s two US league based forwards, Omar Cummings and Nicholas Addlery had found themselves in good positions to score. But both Cummings and Addlery showed an inability to finish which has dogged the Reggee Boyz in the first two games of this tournament.

The LA Galaxy’s Donovan Ricketts had an excellent night in goal but was beaten by Cleso Borges who was completely unmarked in minute 64. Jamaica looked a spent force thanks to defending for so long with ten men yet the Ticos were so poor that they gave the opposition several chances in the last ten minutes to equalize. Despite being down a man for almost an hour Jamaica had as many shots as Costa Rica and almost equal possesion.

Costa Rica has struggled in the Gold Cup for years now. Part of the reason is with the tournament’s early stages always held on American soil, the Ticos are a victim of their nations political stability. Unlike other Central American countries that all have large exile or ex-pat communities in the USA, Costa Ric