The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the
CONCACAF Gold Cup
The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Amer ...
competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation.
The competition started on June 5, 2011, at
Cowboys Stadium
AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable roof, retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. I ...
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
Its ...
, California, with Mexico beating the United States 4–2.
This competition was the fifth tournament without guests from other confederations. Mexico won their sixth Gold Cup, and ninth CONCACAF Championship overall. It was the third consecutive Gold Cup final and second consecutive win also.
As winner of the tournament, Mexico qualified for the
2013 FIFA Confederations Cup
The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourna ...
in Brazil as the representative from
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...
.
Qualified teams
A total of 12 teams qualified for the tournament. Three berths were allocated to North America, five to
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
The set of thirteen venues – the same number as the 2009 Gold Cup – was announced on December 16, 2010. Each stadium hosted a doubleheader, except the Rose Bowl which hosted the final.
Squads
The 12 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 23 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament.
Suspension of Mexican players
On June 9, 2011, the names of five
Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
Guillermo Ochoa
Francisco Guillermo Ochoa Magaña (; born 13 July 1985), commonly referred to as Memo, is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Salernitana and the Mexico national team.
Ochoa made his senior-level prof ...
,
Francisco Javier Rodríguez
Francisco Javier "Maza" Rodríguez Pineda (; born 20 October 1981) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Club career
Guadalajara
Francisco Javier Rodríguez was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, which is the or ...
clenbuterol
Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most commo ...
prior to the start of the 2011 Gold Cup. They were withdrawn from the squad a few days after their June 5 Gold Cup starting match and 5-0 win against El Salvador. Mexican officials said they believed the positive tests were caused by eating meat tainted with the drug. CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer said a meeting of the confederation's national teams committee, which also serves as the organizing committee of the Gold Cup, was to be convened on June 10 to consider the situation, including possibly allowing Mexico to replace the five players. However, the meeting was postponed to allow for more information to be gathered. The
Mexican Football Federation
The Mexican Football Federation (; abbreviated as Femexfut or FMF) is the governing body of association football in Mexico. It adm the Mexico national team, the Liga MX and all affiliated amateur sectors, and controls promoting, organizing, dire ...
said on June 14 that the "B" samples of those five involving players were negative.
The CONCACAF Gold Cup Organizing Committee announced on June 19 that Mexico would be allowed to replace the suspended players. The replacement players were,
Luis Ernesto Michel
Luis Ernesto Michel Vergara (born 21 July 1979) is a Mexican football manager and a former professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Liga MX club Tijuana. Michel has captained both Guadalajara and the Mexico national team in ...
Mexican Football Federation
The Mexican Football Federation (; abbreviated as Femexfut or FMF) is the governing body of association football in Mexico. It adm the Mexico national team, the Liga MX and all affiliated amateur sectors, and controls promoting, organizing, dire ...
and the results were blamed on contamination of meat, with the ingestion of clenbuterol considered non-intentional. However, the
World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's k ...
(WADA) appealed to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...
to request a ban. On October 12, 2011, WADA withdrew the request after the full file was available for them.
El Salvador match fixing
On September 20, 2013, the Salvadoran Football Federation banned 14 Salvadoran players for life due to their involvement with
match fixing
In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...
while playing with the El Salvador national team over the previous two years, including 8 players ( Dennis Alas,
Luis Anaya
Luis Alonso Anaya Merino (born May 19, 1981) is a Salvadoran former professional football player. He was banned for life in 2013, for match fixing while playing for the El Salvador national football team.
Club career
Anaya started his senior c ...
,
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Marvin González
Marvin René González Leiva (born April 17, 1982) is a Salvadoran former footballer who played as a left-back.
Club career
Born in El Refugio, González came through the reserves of FAS in 2001 to claim his place in the senior team and to st ...
Osael Romero
William Osael Romero Castillo (born 18 April 1986) is a Salvadoran former footballer. He was banned for life in 2013, for match fixing while playing for the El Salvador national football team.
Career
Club
Romero started his career at Atl ...
,
Ramón Sánchez
Ramón Alfredo Sánchez Paredes (born May 25, 1982 in San Juan Opico) is a Salvadoran football player. He was banned for life in 2013, for match fixing while playing for the El Salvador national football team.
Career
Club
Sánchez has played ...
and Miguel Montes), from El Salvador's 5-0 loss to Mexico on June 5 at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Group stage
''All Times are U.S. Eastern Daylight Time ( UTC−4) (Local Times in parentheses)''
Group A
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Group B
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Group C
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Ranking of third-placed teams
Knockout stage
''All times U.S. Eastern Daylight Time ( UTC−4) (Local times in parentheses)''
Quarterfinals
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Semifinals
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Final
Statistics
Goalscorers
;7 goals
*
Javier Hernández
Javier Hernández Balcázar (; born 1 June 1988), commonly known by the nickname Chicharito (, Mexican Spanish: ''little pea''), is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. He is know ...
;4 goals
*
Rodolfo Zelaya
Rodolfo Antonio Zelaya García (born 3 July 1988) is a Salvadoran professional footballer who plays as a second striker for Salvadoran club Alianza and the El Salvador national team.
In October 2013, Zelaya was given a one-year ban from fo ...
*
Aldo de Nigris
Jesus Aldo de Nigris Guajardo (born 22 July 1983) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a striker, who is the current assistant manager of Liga MX club Monterrey.
Club career
He started his career at the youth divisions of ...
Carlo Costly
Carlo Yaír Costly Molina (; born 18 July 1982) is a Honduran professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga de Ascenso club Lone FC.
Prior to moving to Europe, he played with Platense, where he was the top scorer of the Honduras A ...
Giovani dos Santos
Giovani dos Santos Ramírez ( ; born 11 May 1989) is a Mexican professional footballer. A versatile forward, dos Santos can play as an attacking midfielder, winger, and secondary striker. He is an Olympic gold medalist.
Dos Santos began h ...
*
Andrés Guardado
José Andrés Guardado Hernández (; born 28 September 1986) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Betis and captains the Mexico national team.
Popularly known as ''Principito'' (Spanish for '' L ...
Clint Dempsey
Clinton Drew Dempsey (; born March 9, 1983) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward and midfielder. During his career, he played in the Premier League for Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur and in Major League Socc ...
;2 goals
*
Dwayne De Rosario
Dwayne Anthony De Rosario OOnt (born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian former professional soccer player, who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. De Rosario last played for the Mississauga MetroStars of the Major Arena Soccer Leag ...
Heiner Mora
Heiner Mora Mora (born 20 June 1984) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays for A.D. Municipal Pérez Zeledón as a wingback.
Club career
Heiner Mora began his career with Santos de Guápiles. He was a regular starter at rightback ...
Yénier Márquez
Yénier Márquez Molina (born 3 January 1979) is a Cuban former footballer who played as a defender.
He is the Cuba national team's most capped player of all-time.
Club career
Born in Corralillo, Márquez he his senior debut with FC Villa ...
Osael Romero
William Osael Romero Castillo (born 18 April 1986) is a Salvadoran former footballer. He was banned for life in 2013, for match fixing while playing for the El Salvador national football team.
Career
Club
Romero started his career at Atl ...
*
Clive Murray
Clive Nolan Murray (born December 5, 1990) is a footballer from Grenada, who is currently playing for Paradise FC International in the GFA Premier Division.
Early life
He was born in the parish of St. Patricks and was raised in the village of M ...
Efraín Juárez
Efraín Juárez Valdez (born 22 February 1988) is a Mexican former professional footballer and current assistant manager of Standard Liege. He is the younger brother of former FC Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
Early career
He began hi ...
*
Rafael Márquez
Rafael Márquez Álvarez (; born 13 February 1979) is a Mexican former professional footballer and current head coach of Spanish team Barcelona Atlètic. Nicknamed '' El Káiser'', he is regarded as the best defender in Mexico's history and on ...
The Fair Play Award was awarded to Mexico because they accumulated the fewest cards.
;Best Saves
;Best Goals
Final ranking
Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in
extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...
are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
Concacaf Gold Cup
The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Amer ...