Men’s soccer: Mexico routs Cuba in CONCACAF Gold Cup opener

Cuba are cutting their CONCACAF Gold Cup preparations fine having started training for Thursday’s Group C opener against Mexico at Soldier Field with only 17 players and without coach Raul Gonzalez.

Simply put, Piojo and his side will face stiffer challenges in the Gold Cup, starting with the next game. Guatemala now ranks No. 105 in the world, which is one spot behind Cuba, who they will be playing on July 15.

Mexico is coming off the Copa America in which coach Miguel Herrera kept numerous best players off the roster, putting his focus instead on the Gold Cup. Now I have an opportunity and I am going to try to take full advantage of it.

Still, it’s a another recent injury that could prove even more troublesome for Herrera and Mexico. Today’s opening game for these teams has a start time of 9.30 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the Fox Sports 1 network, or online through free live stream via the link below.

But did we learn from Mexico’s thrashing? If anything, Mexico should have scored even more goals than six, but Herrera will be pleased with how his two forwards, Oribe Peralta and Carlos Vela, were able to coexist on the pitch.

Shortly after the hour mark Peralta completed his hat-trick when he scored from close range.

Vela capitalized on poor clearing attempt by the Cuban defense five minutes later to make it 2-0 before Peralta potted his second of the game with a blast to the bottom left corner in the 37th minute.

At the back, by contrast, there wasn’t as much to learn.

Should he persist with it, Cuba will likely see Francisco Rodriguez and Diego Reyes operating in front of goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, with Paul Aguilar and Miguel Layun in the fullback positions. The San Jose Earthquakes midfielder then drilled a shot into an open net for a 2-0 lead in the 14th minute.

Real Sociedad standout Carlos Vela’s return to Mexico had many questioning how Herrera would fit him, Gio dos Santos and Chicharito into the same team. “As one of the top squads in the region, Mexico will get each opponent’s best test, especially in the group stage”.

Those chances came after the 10th minute as Mexico attacked down the wings, at one point almost getting a goal when Cuabn defender Yaisnier Napoles almost headed it in. Tasked with rescuing Mexico from an horrific World Cup qualifying campaign – in which they flirted dangerously with elimination, eventually relying on a USA result in another match to pull them through – he weathered the storm admirably. With Mexico the clear favorite in this group the battle will be for second and this will be the key match. Canada no longer possess the great Dwayne de Rosario, who has retired, but the team still has several potential weapons, including Julian de Guzman, the first Canadian to play in Spain’s top league.