Jamaica vs. Mexico: Gold Cup 2015 Final Preview and Schedule

On one side, there's a team no one expected to be there. On the other, there's one many argue shouldn't be. Suffice it to say, the 2015 Gold Cup Final is far from the one we were expecting.

Jamaica will be making their first trip to the CONCACAF tournament championship after a shocking defeat of the United States on Wednesday. Largely a secondary squad on the national stage, Jamaica's previous best finish in the Gold Cup was a tie for third more than two decades ago.

"My phone hasn't stopped, as you can imagine," Jamaica's Giles Barnes said, per the Tampa Bay Times. "Back in Jamaica, there's got to be a party going on."

Matchup	Date	Time	Location	TV Info
Jamaica vs. Mexico	July 26	7:30 p.m. ET	Philadelphia, PA	Fox Sports 1

While few dispute Jamaica deserved to win their match, the same cannot be said for Mexico. El Tri found themselves down 1-0 in the 88th minute in their semifinal against Panama despite the Panamanians being down one man. Again a victim of their anemic attack, Mexico appeared to be headed for an inauspicious exit.

They can thank some timely officiating for the fact they aren't.

Panama defender Roman Torres was whistled for a controversial handball in the 88th minute when he tripped and fell onto the ball after defending a pass intended for Mexico's Carlos Esquivel. Torres had initially attempted to clear the ball with an overhead kick before flailing in its direction after the kick barely got past the six-yard box. 

The call led to an ugly dispute that featured garbage thrown onto the pitch, near-fisticuffs on both sides and even coaching staffs got into verbal altercations with players. At points, Panama players had to be separated from one another during the melee. It took more than 10 minutes to clear up the situation and return to play, after which Andres Guardado knocked home the penalty to send the game to extra time.

John Bazemore/Associated Press

Another penalty, this time a much more standard affair, in the 115th minute wound up putting Mexico ahead for good. Two Panama defenders tripped up Javier Orozco in the box, with the whistle ultimately going to Harold Cummings. Guardado hit his second penalty kick of the evening, and the undermanned Panama squad never really got close to tying up the match.

To put it mildly, the Panama team were not pleased with the refereeing after the match, as illustrated in this SB Nation Soccer tweet:

"I ask myself why did this happen?" Panama coach Hernan Gomez told reporters after the match, per Associated Press sports writer Charles Odum (via U.S. News and Report). "We were doing everything well. It is very sad. We are people of football, and I still can't believe this happened and I wonder if this really happened."

How bad was the officiating? So bad that Guardado even considered missing his first penalty kick purposefully as a sign of protest/sportsmanship.

"I thought about it, but one has to be professional," Guardado said, per Roger Gonzalez of CBS Sports. "We've been on the other side."

Either way, the result is a Gold Cup final with a ton of intrigue. Mexico are, despite their struggles in the tournament, going to come in heavy favorites. Either Mexico or the United States have won all but one Gold Cup in history (Canada, 2000). Jamaica have not so much as even made the semifinal since before the turn of the century.

For the second straight matchup, Jamaica are the proverbial David in CONCACAF.

John Bazemore/Associated Press

"It feels like David versus Goliath," Jamaica coach Winfried Schaefer told reporters before the win against the U.S. "But that's fine. We will try everything to hit the giant when it counts the most."

Working in Jamaica's favor is Mexico's largely poor play in the Gold Cup. El Tri have won exactly one of their matches before extra time in this tournament. They were in second place in their group. They needed quite a few fortuitous bounces to beat a 10-man Panama team.

To contrast, Jamaica have won all but one of their matches and have not needed extra time once. After taking out the prohibitive favorite Wednesday night, they have to be riding high heading into the final.