It Won’t Be Easy for U.S.
Today, the sixth CONCACAF Gold Cup opens in Miami, with five World Cup-bound teams--Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, South Korea and the United States--among the dozen participants.
The biennial soccer tournament, barely a decade old, is being split between the Orange Bowl and the Rose Bowl, with the Pasadena stadium staging both semifinals on Jan. 30 as well as the championship match on Feb. 2.
Costa Rica is widely regarded as the favorite to win the event for the first time, if only because Mexico, a three-time winner, has sent a second-string team, while the U.S., winner of the inaugural tournament in 1991 and twice a runner-up, does not have its full-strength team available.
Also likely to contend are the two invited teams: South Korea, which plays the U.S. Saturday at the Rose Bowl, and Ecuador, the most surprising of South America’s World Cup qualifiers. Canada, the defending champion, comes in as a dark horse.
A capsule look at the 12 Gold Cup teams, in alphabetical order:
CANADA
German Coach Holger Osieck caused something of an upset in 2000 when he led the Canadians to their first international title. They defeated Colombia, 2-0, in the championship match at the Coliseum. Since then, things have not gone as well. Canada failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, and its lone recent success was a 0-0 tie with Brazil at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Japan in June. Most of the players are European-based, which has given Osieck little time to prepare the squad.
COSTA RICA
Still riding high after finishing in first place in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournament, Costa Rica should have little difficulty winning its group. Brazilian Coach Alexandre Guimaraes can call upon a strong and experienced team despite the absence of forwards Paulo Wanchope and Ronald Gomez.
The Ticos defeated 2000 Olympic gold medalist Cameroon, 2-1, last Saturday, then found out belatedly that Cameroon had sent its reserve team. Costa Rica is demanding the return of the $70,000 appearance fee it paid to the African team.
CUBA
A soccer minnow among the CONCACAF big fish, Cuba comes into the tournament with little to lose. Coach Miguel Company can expect his inexperienced side to play two matches and head home.
ECUADOR
Ecuador’s players and coaches come to the U.S. with a bit more money to spend. On Monday, Ecuador’s soccer federation divided up $745,000 among them for qualifying for Japan/Korea ‘02, which will be the landlocked nation’s first World Cup appearance. Ecuador has the talent to win the Gold Cup, even without veteran midfielder Alex Aguinaga and striker Agustin Delgado, perhaps the best-known of Colombian Coach Hernan Dario Gomez’s players. Ecuador defeated Guatemala, 1-0, in front of 45,000 fans in Guayaquil on Sunday.
EL SALVADOR
Having disappointed its many fans by failing to reach the World Cup, El Salvador is rebuilding with an eye on the 2006 world championship in Germany. Veteran playmaker Mauricio Cienfuegos of the Galaxy announced his retirement from the national team last week, but Coach Carlos Humberto Recinos still has several capable players, including Adonay Martinez and Ronald Cerritos who might help Ecuador squeeze into the second round.
GUATEMALA
Coach Julio Cesar Cortes took his team to Cuba to prepare for the Gold Cup, but a 1-0 victory and 0-0 tie achieved in Havana will not have raised his hopes considerably. The 1-0 loss in Ecuador this week won’t have helped either. Still, Guatemala and El Salvador will have fan support at the Rose Bowl and will be looking to take advantage of Mexico.
HAITI
Jorge Castelli, Haiti’s coach, claims that the nation’s soccer federation is working hard to raise the level of the game in the Caribbean island, but economic woes and consistent failure to qualify for the World Cup since its only appearance in 1974 have hurt the game’s development. Haiti can expect a quick exit from the Gold Cup.
MARTINIQUE
If Cuba and Haiti are minnows, Martinique is merely bait. Its first Gold Cup appearance since 1993 will be brief, given the caliber of its group opponents.
MEXICO
Coach Javier Aguirre has reached a pact with Mexico’s club coaches that allows them to keep the country’s top players now in exchange for releasing them a little closer to the World Cup. As a result, the Mexico team taking part in the Gold Cup is at best second-string and perhaps even third-string. Aguirre covers this by saying as many as 16 spots on his World Cup roster are to be earned, but it seems unlikely that they will come from players he acknowledges “are looking to prove themselves both on and off the field.”
SOUTH KOREA
Dutch Coach Guus Hiddink led the Netherlands to fourth place at the 1998 World Cup in France, then later assumed the challenge of guiding South Korea as it prepared to co-host the 2002 tournament with Japan. He has achieved some successes, but the South Koreans, who lost, 1-0, to the Galaxy in a scrimmage at Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, do not appear to have gelled as a team. Saturday’s game against the U.S., one of their opponents at the World Cup, will better indicate their progress.
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
A dismal flop in World Cup qualifying, Trinidad and Tobago is trying to make amends under Brazilian Coach Rene Simoes, whose position remains anything but secure. Offensively talented but defensively weak is the best way to describe the team, but that should be enough for it to reach the second round. “We are not scared to play against anyone,” Simoes says.
UNITED STATES
Coach Bruce Arena’s squad has been training in Claremont for two weeks and has as good a chance at winning the Gold Cup as any of the 12 teams. Arena is relying on players from Major League Soccer teams to form most of his starting lineup, with the only European-based players called into camp being goalkeeper Kasey Keller, defender Frankie Hejduk and midfielder Eddie Lewis.
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Gold Cup 2002
What: Sixth biennial Gold Cup tournament.
When: Today through Feb. 2.
Where: Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl, Miami.
Who: Twelve teams, including five that have qualified for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Format: Teams have been divided into four groups of three, with the winner and runner-up of each group advancing to the quarterfinals. The semifinals and final will be played at the Rose Bowl.
Previous champions: Canada (2000); Mexico (1993, 1996, 1998); United States (1991).
GROUP A (Rose Bowl): El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico*
GROUP B (Rose Bowl): Cuba, South Korea*, United States*
GROUP C (Miami): Costa Rica*, Martinique, Trinidad & Tobago
GROUP D (Miami): Canada, Ecuador*, Haiti
*Qualified for 2002 World Cup
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SCHEDULE**
Today (Miami): Martinique vs Costa Rica, 4 p.m.; Haiti vs Canada, 6 p.m.
Saturday (Rose Bowl): El Salvador vs. Mexico, 1 p.m.; U.S. vs. South Korea, 3 p.m.
Sunday (Miami): Costa Rica vs. Trinidad and Tobago, noon; Ecuador vs. Haiti, 2 p.m.
Monday (Rose Bowl): U.S. vs. Cuba, 3 p.m.; Mexico vs. Guatemala, 5 p.m.
Jan. 22 (Miami): Trinidad and Tobago vs. Martinique, 4 p.m.; Canada vs. Ecuador, 6 p.m.
Wednesday (Rose Bowl): Guatemala vs. El Salvador, 7 p.m.; South Korea vs. Cuba, 9 p.m.
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QUARTERFINALS
Jan. 26 (Miami): QF1 Winner Group C vs. second-place Group D, noon; QF2 Winner Group D vs. second-place Group C, 2:30 p.m.
Jan. 27 (Rose Bowl): QF3 Winner Group A vs. second-place Group B, noon; QF4 Winner Group B vs. second-place Group A, 2:30 p.m.
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SEMIFINALS
Jan. 30 (Rose Bowl): Winner QF1 vs. winner QF3, 6 p.m.; Winner QF2 vs. winner QF4, 8:30 p.m.
Feb. 2 (Rose Bowl): Third-place game, 10 a.m.; Final, noon
**All times Pacific
