by Gian-Luca
Guadeloupe
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Guadeloupe
Gualeloupe makes it to their second Gold Cup in a row, having made it all the way to the semi-finals their first time round, losing only to Mexico and having defeated Canada (in the group stages) and Honduras (in the quarter-finals) along the way. Despite their relatively miniscule population they are not to be taken lightly as seemingly the entire population plays soccer 24/7. The team features many French based players (and indeed, their last Gold Cup squad featured players who had actually played for the French National team), a couple in Belgium and Therry Racon of Charlton Athletic in the UK. We should also not forget that this is the country that helped to produce the likes of Lilliam Thuram, Thierry Henry, Mikael Silvestre, William Gallas, Louis Saha, Eric Abidal, Nicholas Anelka and Slyvain Wiltord for France. Guadeloupe could probably qualify for the World Cup and beat France when they got there with those players on its team.
The rules have changed this year however, and the players who suit up for Guadeloupe must have been born in the country and or have parents who were, and those who play or have played for the French national team can’t play for Guadeloupe any more. This automatically suggests that the team will not be as successful with fewer options to choose from, but they still bring a squad with a fair number of overseas-based players. Guadeloupe (who really has one of the coolest National flags that I’ve ever seen) finished third in the Caribbean Championship in 2008, beating Cuba on penalties, and proved that their 2007 qualification was no one-off fluke.
One player Guadeloupe will still be able to rely upon is Franck Grandel, who won the award for top keeper of the 2007 Gold Cup. He may need to stand on his head to get Guadeloupe as far as the semi’s this time round, but a quarter-final appearance is definitely a realistic goal. They will be helped at the other end by top striker Michale Antoine-Curier, a former teammate of Chris Pozniak’s at Dundee in the Scottish First Division. Antoine-Curier has six goals in just eight games, all of which came in the 2008 Caribbean Cup.
Mexico
Mexico is also bringing an under-strength squad, but it would be a deception to call it a “B” team as some commentators have done. Like the US, their Gold Cup team is incredibly strong by regional standards and they must be considered favourites to win their group and the whole tourney. Mexico have been struggling away from home in World Cup Qualifying but playing in the US in the warm weather is usually not a problem for them, and they have arguably the weakest group.
The Mexican Gold Cup roster is largely domestic based, but their domestic league is so strong in this region that it doesn’t have the “ah, well those players must not be that good” feel to it that you might say about rosters from other domestic leagues. Nevertheless there are some very notable exceptions – Tottenham Hotspurs prodigy Giovanni Dos Santos is on this team, as is Arsenal prodigy Carlos Vela, with only other foreign-based player merely being striking stalwart Omar Bravo who plays for Deportivo La Coruna in Spain (ie. De Guzman’s team for the past few seasons).
There are many familiar names providing a wealth of experience. Gerardo Torrado and his flying elbows are back to provide a defensive backbone in midfield (and excellent long-range striking ability), while other familiar names include Jonny Magallon, Alberto Medina and former U23 keeper Guillermo Ochoa.
The Mexicans have won 4 Gold Cups, but by their standards they might be overdue for a fifth (the last one coming in 2003, their only triumph in the last 5 tourneys). With a blend of experience and young prospects eager to book their place in the World Cup team, this team could go all the way.
Nicaragua
Arguably the surprise of the tournament already just by getting here. This is their first Gold Cup, which they qualified for by finishing fifth in the Central American Championships, defeating Guatemala 2-0 to knock Guatemala out of the Gold Cup. Fans of the Montreal Impact will have a good sense of what the team is like as nine members of the roster come from Real Esteli, the team that Montreal beat in the preliminary round of the 2008-2009 CONCACAF Champions League. One of those Real Esteli players, Samuel Wilson, scored both goals for Nicaragua in that match against Guatemala and will presumably be relied upon for more scoring should Nicaragua have any hope of progressing out of the first round.
Nicaragua is best known as a baseball nation and their soccer players toil in relative obscurity. This Gold Cup appearance is considered the apex of their soccer history thus far, so much so that their coach has compared their trip to the Gold Cup to the equivalent of a trip to the World Cup. One can’t help but feel that the squad, with no player having more than four caps according to at least one source, might have a “just happy to be there” mentality to it. Their brightest hope might be 18 year old Daniel Reyes, who is one of the few players on the squad on a foreign club – Tigres of Brazil, no less. Perhaps the clear underdog of the whole tourney, Nicaragua will be thrilled to get to the quarter-finals.
Panama
After a recent surge through the middle-part of this decade that saw them qualify for the Hex for 2006 and reach the 2005 Gold Cup Final, the Panamanian team has slipped a bit. They were eliminated by El Salvador in the preliminary round of World Cup qualifying for 2010 in a bitterly played, controversial two-game series that Panama unsuccessfully officially protested. The Gold Cup is a chance for Panama to swing things back in the other direction and with the squad they have brought and the group they are in, they should have few problems reaching the quarter-finals.
Panama, like fellow Central Americans Honduras and Costa Rica, have more players playing abroad than ever before. They are led up front by Colombian and Mexican based strikers Luis Tejada and Blas Perez, respectively. The duo have 24 goals between them. Captain Felipe Baloy of Monterrey in Mexico is the leader at the back, while the midfield can boast the likes of Brazilian-based Juan Perez (of Juventude) and Israeli-based Alberta Blanco (of Maccabi Netanya). Panama’s top domestic team San Francisco (which featured in the 2008-2009 CONCACAF Champions League) also supplies four players, including veteran Ricardo Phillips who can boast a team-leading 67 caps to his name.
Because of Panama’s even-more-truncated-than-Canada’s 2010 World Cup Qualifying Campaign, it is difficult to examine the form of the team in person. They do come into the tourney as Central American champions however, having defeated Costa Rica on PK’s in the final. All signs point to this being a formidable opponent in the 2009 Gold Cup.