Gold Cup Quarterfinals: Predicting The Four Winners
The Group Stage of the 2011 Gold Cup came to an end on June 14.
The quarter final matches have been decided and will be played on June 18 and 19.
The matches set for June 18 will be played in the New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey.
The ones set for the day after that will be played in the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C.
I'm going to try to predict the winners of each quarterfinal match, plus the rest of the tournament as a bonus.
Costa Rica vs. Honduras
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Both teams had the same results in the group stage, where they won a match, lost another and drew the third one.
Both ended second in their groups and will now see each other in the Quarterfinals.
It's hard to predict a winner since both teams won convincingly (0-5 and 1-7) and Honduras had a scoreless draw and Costa Rica a 1-1 draw.
I'm going to go with the match they lost.
Honduras only lost 1-0 while Costa Rica lost 4-1, therefore I think Honduras has the upper hand in this match.
Mexico vs. Guatemala
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Guatemala has a win, a loss and a draw and they have come against teams that aren't that good.
Mexico has won every match by at least three goals (0-5, 5-0, 4-1).
If the doping scandal doesn't go further, Mexico is a sure-fire semifinalist.
Jamaica vs. United States
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Even though Jamaica has won all the matches so far and the US has lost one, I think the US still has the upper hand.
Even in the match they lost the US scored more goals than its rival; sadly, one was in the wrong end of the field.
Panama vs. El Salvador
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Panama was two wins and a draw.
El Salvador has a draw, a win and a loss.
Panama's two wins have come against Guadalupe and the US, and they managed to draw against Canada.
El Salvador lost to Mexico, won against Cuba and could only draw against Costa Rica.
I'm going with Panama on this one.
Honduras vs. Mexico
5 of 9While Honduras will play with heart and try to win the match, I can't imagine them surprising the Mexicans.
I think that Mexico will continue its way to the final by topping Honduras.
US vs Panama
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I love revenge matches.
US's only loss in the tournament came against Panama.
They meet again in the semi finals with a lot more in play than in the group stage.
US has the upper hand and I think logic will impose itself with them advancing to the finals.
Honduras vs. Panama
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Third-place match.
A match between the semi final losers hasn't been played since 2003, and I'm not sure it will be played in this edition (It's not in the official schedule).
Therefore, both teams will share the third place.
Mexico vs. US
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My prediction is that the "dictatorship" of the US and Mexico will continue in this edition of the Golden Cup, facing each other in the final once again.
Both are great teams and either one of them could win it.
I'm afraid to make a prediction because it's really hard to say who's better, but I'm going to give the edge to the US because of home-field advantage.
More Posters and Music
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If you liked the posters in the first three slides, want to see more of them and want to know a little bit more about them, click here.
They are ESPN promotional posters for the World Cup.
The video in the Mexico vs. Honduras slide is "gimme tha power" by the Mexican alternative rap/rock band Molotov.
