Gold Cup 2017: Jamaica Beats Curacao, Mexico Cruises Past El Salvador on Sunday

With the first two groups having completed their first round of fixtures, the 2017 Gold Cup spotlight was on Group C on Sunday in San Diego.

Curacao and Jamaica faced off to get the action underway, while Mexico began its Gold Cup title defense against El Salvador to bring the day to a close.

Below is a brief recap for how Sunday unfolded. The schedule and standings for the Gold Cup are available on the tournament's official website.

Jamaica 2, Curacao 0

Jamaica opened its tournament with a 2-0 win over Curacao.

Following a scoreless first half, Romario Williams broke the deadlock in the 58th minute, beating Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room at the near post.

Je-Vaughn Watson supplied a through ball ahead to Williams, who opted against taking a touch and instead hit the ball first time. Room appeared to be caught off guard as Williams' shot slipped just inside the post. Fox Soccer shared a replay of the tally:

The Charleston Battery, Williams' club team, celebrated the goal:

Fifteen minutes later, Darren Mattocks provided an early candidate for goal of the tournament when he put Jamaica ahead 2-0.

The goal came about after Mattocks had a poor touch on Kemar Lawrence's cross in from the left. Mattocks quickly recovered and unleashed a left-footed volley into the back of the net:

Curacao nearly halved the deficit in the 78th minute, but Andre Blake saved Gevaro Nepomuceno's close-range effort to maintain Jamaica's two-goal lead.

While it wasn't a sterling performance by the Reggae Boyz, they put themselves in a good position to advance with the victory. Drawing one of their two remaining group stage matches may be enough to send them through to the quarterfinals.

Especially with Mexico ahead in its next match, Jamaica needed to walk away from Sunday with three points and achieved that goal.

Curacao, on the other hand, all but guaranteed it has no margin for error over the next week, which is concerning since it still has a matchup with El Tri on the horizon. Even with Mexico sending a weakened side to the Gold Cup, it'll be a difficult opponent for Curacao in what could be a must-win situation on July 16 in San Antonio.

Mexico 3, El Salvador 1

Mexico may be relying on what is a reserve unit in the Gold Cup, but it didn't matter Sunday as El Tri brushed El Salvador aside 3-1. Hedgardo Marin, Elias Hernandez and Orbelin Pineda were the goal scorers for Mexico.

The match was competitive early on, as Nelson Bonilla canceled out Marin's opening goal in the 10th minute of the match. It was a nice finish from Bonilla, who slid his shot into the far post, past a diving Jesus Corona:

Hernandez put Mexico back on top in the 29th minute with a right-footed volley from inside the 18-yard box. The El Salvador defense left Hernandez unmarked, allowing him ample time to measure up his shot off Jesus Gallardo's cross from the right.

Goal's Jon Arnold commented on El Salvador's poor defending:

Pineda provided an insurance goal in the 55th minute to put the match out of reach for El Salvador.

Mexico finished with 67 percent possession and 13 shots. Bonilla's equalizer could've prompted a nervous response from Mexico, and instead, they provided a swift retort and didn't look back.

With the win, El Tri moved to the top of Group C, having scored one more goal than Jamaica. That sets up what will be an interesting match Thursday. A victory for either country will mean advancement to the knockout round.

And for Mexico in particular, another confident performance will further establish why they're the favorites to retain their CONCACAF crown.