As the Copa America 2015 concluded the other day with Chile winning the title for the first time, now there is going to be a serious shift toward the United States and Canada for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The action will start on July 7th, and it will go all the way to July 26th, and the action will not only deal with North America, but Central America as well as the Caribbean nations.
What can be expected for the United States? Well, the men's national team will begin its CONCACAF campaign in Frisco, Texas, as the Toyota Stadium, on Honduras Tuesday night. This game will actually be the second match of a Group A doubleheader at the Major League Soccer FC Dallas. The first competition will be Panama vs. Haiti.
For those who are unfamiliar with the teams, this is the twelve that must battle it out, and it has been divided into three groups of 4 teams each, according to the International Business Times. Group A includes both the United States, Honduras, Panama, and Haiti. Group B is Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, and Canada. Group C is Mexico, Gautemala, Cuba, as well as Trinidad and Tobago. The top two teams from each group directly enter the quarter-finals of the competition and then the remaining two slots are awarded to the two best third placed teams from the three groups.
According to Bleacher Report, "Jurgen Klinsmann's team will be looking to star the tournament off with three points in the difficult group as they look to repeat as Gold Cup champion". The USMNT team has been ever-wanting to repeat the championship run that it had two years ago, when they beat Panama in Chicago.
It is so far so good as the USMNT had their tune up game last Friday as they beat Guatemala at the Nissan Stadium in Nashville Tennessee. The interesting thing about it is that Klinsmann was reported as "not happy with that performance", according to Fox Sports Kyle McCarthy.
Why was Klinsmann not happy with the win? Part of it has to do with the way he didn't like "moving of the ball, speed of play, urgency. Things we talked about before were not executed the way we wanted them to be executed", according to Major League Soccer. Klinsmann had this to say about Honduras: "We expect a nasty game and an aggressive and difficult game" and "We definitely have to step it up". He was referring to the forwards Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey, who had problems hooking up with one another and with the midfield.
For those that want to watch the match, the time will be 9:30 PM ET, and it can be seen on Fox Sports 1 (FS1), Unimas, and Univision Deportes. To live stream the event, head to Fox Sports Go in the United states and view it from your computer, tablet, or smartphone. Those that want to see the schedule for the entire series should click on the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup schedule.
