Clearly, Mexico is having trouble moving ahead in this year's Gold Cup.
They barely made it past Trinidad and Tobago (who frustrated Mexico for practically the entire match) courtesy of one lucky goal, scored by Raul Jimenez six minutes before the end.
But there's an explanation for this.
Having a look at the squad present at the Gold Cup, versus the squad that was at the Confederations Cup, one can clearly see that the best players are not in the United States right now.
Where are de Nigris, Hernandez, dos Santos, Guardado, Torrado, Ochoa, and others?
Why would Mexico care more about that Confederations Cup? It's a filler tournament.
I guess when they are two Gold Cups ahead of United States, the nearest rival, you start to get cocky...
Still, I have to wonder who made the decision that the first squad would be sent to play in the Confederations Cup, but the Gold Cup would be defended by second-string players.
Maybe the players asked for it, because the clubs don't want them injured, meaning it's a financial/business issue. Otherwise, I find it hard to think that the Mexican football federation would willfully neglect a tournament that is always so good to their national team.
Anyway, now, that they still managed to make it to the semifinals, are they going to manage a better result against Panama than they did in the group stage? That's the question every Mexican fan is asking.
The Panamanians clearly take this competition seriously. If there was any doubt as to their abilities, they put that to rest after getting a better score against Cuba than even The United States did.
Highlights from Mexico - Trinidad and Tobago:
Highlights from Panama - Cuba:
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