Gold Cup 2013: Who Will Come Up Big in Semifinals?

The 2013 Gold Cup is in full swing and will continue this Wednesday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

USA will face Honduras at 7 p.m. ET, and Panama will square off against Mexico at 10 p.m. ET.

To win their semifinal matchup, each team will need their best players to step up in a big way.

Here's a look at one player from each team who looks primed to play well in these crucial semifinals matchups.

Landon Donovan-USA

By most accounts, Landon Donovan is the heart and soul of this USA team, and he will have to come up big for the team to advance past Honduras. He certainly looks set to do his part, as he has three goals thus far in the tournament and leads all players with six assists.  "I'm just having a lot of fun," Donovan said to USA Today's Jesse Yomtov after USA's Sunday victory over El Salvador.  He’ll look to keep that going in the semifinals.

Donis Escober-Honduras

Donis Escober has yet to allow a goal in Gold Cup play, and he’ll have to continue that level of goalkeeping if Honduras is going to advance. Of the remaining four teams, Honduras has attempted by far the fewest shots on goal and must play solid defense to have a chance. That starts with Escober, who has stopped all 11 shots on goal against him and helped Honduras shut out Haiti, El Salvador and Costa Rica. He’ll have to be at his best against a USA team that leads all teams with 16 goals.

Gabriel Torres-Panama

Gabriel Torres is tied for the Gold Cup lead with five goals thus far in the tournament, and he looks like he’ll continue his roll against Mexico Wednesday. He’s coming off one of his best games too, as he scored two goals in the first 38 minutes of a 6-1 victory over Cuba Saturday. Torres also scored two goals in a 2-1 Panama victory over Mexico July 7, and he’ll look to bury Mexico once again and send his team to the finals.

Marco Fabián-Mexico

Mexico ranks third in Gold Cup play with 56 shots on goal, and some of the credit for that has to go to Marco Fabián, who is fifth among all players with 14 shots. He also has three goals and is the premier offensive weapon on an impressive Mexico team. He scored Mexico’s lone goal against Panama when the two teams last met, and he’ll have to come up big again if Mexico is going to turn the tide on Panama in their upcoming matchup.

The two semifinals matchups should be fun to watch, but look for the offense of Donovan and USA to be too much for Honduras to handle and for Panama to ride the hot-hand of Torres into the finals.