It is now time to take the CONCACAF Gold Cup seriously. A Gold Cup rule allows managers to make up to six changes between the group and knockout stages, and USMNT manager Bruce Arena is bringing in his all-time leading goalscorer, his number one goalkeeper, his captain, his top striker and Darlington Nagbe, who's probably the best player of the bunch.
From USSoccer.com:
In an absurd first for major international tournaments (so you know it’s coming by way of the CONCACAF Gold Cup), a competing nation has knowingly and willingly knocked itself out of the competition.
Did that game even exist? Do I even exist?
Gary Lineker once said soccer is a simple game, 22 men chase a ball around the field and in the end the Germans win.
The Germans weren't at the CONCACAF Gold Cup match between Mexico and Jamaica, so in the end nobody won. Instead, 22 men chased a ball around a field and really that was it. Not much happened. Cubo Torres banged a header off the post and many players from both sides fell down holding their faces. And that was it.
The United States has hosted the last seven CONCACAF Gold Cups, which you'd believe would provide the USMNT with a significant home field advantage. However, attendance figures make it clear that Mexico has the most loyal support in the States.
In the six Gold Cups dating back to 2005 (not including this year's tournament), Mexico has always drawn more fans to its matches than the USMNT. Although Mexico doesn't play as often in the U.S. as the USMNT, the differences are significant and suggest that El Tri has more dedicated fans in their rival's home turf.
Hey it's the CONCACAF Gold Cup! Fun!
No. Not fun. Not fun for people who must watch this product. The soccer is bad at the Gold Cup. Real bad. Even the USMNT, the host nation and one of the favorites, is a shadow of itself. This is a soccer wasteland.
Let's see what some of our colleagues in soccer media had to say about the USMNT's thrilling 3-2 win against Martinique:
Panama-Nicaragua was the 2017 Gold Cup in 90 minutes.
After a first half full of crap offense, crap defense took over in the second half and sparked the match to life.
Poor play on both ends typified what has been an underwhelming and CONCACAF’y Gold Cup with many of regions best players watching from home.
Ultimately, Panama pulled out a 2-1 win in what was quite literally an opening act for the USA-Martinique match.
Florent Malouda is not eligible to play for the French Guiana National Team. Malouda made 80 appearances for France from 2004-2012, and as such is not allowed to participate for any other country. CONCACAF representatives confirmed before the tournament that Malouda is not eligible to play.
Watching the Gold Cup the last couple of days, you feel a bit like Scooter Braun accidentally clicking on a YouTube video of a tween musician.
Not since Justin Bieber was discovered at age 12 in 2007 has Canada had such a precocious young star in the making. Alphonso Davies may have only become a Canadian in the last couple months, but if he keeps scoring at this rate, he’ll soar to Bieber-esque heights.
Davies scored the opener in Canada’s 1-1 draw with Costa Rica on Tuesday, the 16-year-old’s third goal in two Gold Cup matches.
Less than 20 years ago, if you wanted to watch the UEFA European Championships you had to dial up pay-per-view for every match.
Now even the women's games are readily available as you can watch every match of UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 with a basic ESPN subscription.
ESPN recently unveiled its plan to air all 31 matches at the tournament, which begins July 16 in the Netherlands.
Andre Blake captained Jamaica to a winning start at the 2017 Gold Cup on Sunday, keeping a clean sheet and recording six saves in the Reggae Boyz victory over Caribbean rivals Curacao.
The international heroics from the 26-year-old goalkeeper were no different from what he’s been accomplishing with the Philadelphia Union throughout the first half of the 2017 season.