The
2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup 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 ...
Final was the 11th final 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 Ameri ...
, the international championship tournament for teams of the
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 language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...
, the governing body of
soccer in North and Central America. The match took place on June 25, 2011, and took place at the
Rose Bowl in
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.
...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. For the
third consecutive final, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
contested the final, Mexico being the defending champions. The final was Mexico's seventh in Gold Cup history, while it was the United States' eighth final, and their fourth consecutive final.
For the second straight year, Mexico
defended their Gold Cup title against the United States, defeating them 4–2 in the final. Mexico's
Pablo Barrera
Pablo Edson Barrera Acosta (born 21 June 1987) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga MX club Querétaro.
Barrera spent the early part of his career playing for Club Universidad Nacional in Mexico, before trans ...
netted Mexico's first and third goals, while
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 '' ...
and
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 hi ...
tallied the second and fourth goals, respectively.
Michael Bradley and
Landon Donovan scored the United States' two goals in the match. The loss marked only the second time in 12 years the United States lost to Mexico on home soil. As Gold Cup champions, Mexico earned a spot at the
2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
as the CONCACAF's representative.
Route to the final
Mexico
Drawn into
Group A
Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles ...
of the Gold Cup, Mexico
started their tournament campaign on June 5, 2011, against
El Salvador.
Prior to their second Group Stage match against Cuba, it was revealed that five players on the Mexican squad,
Antônio Naelson Sinha,
Christian Bermúdez,
Édgar Dueñas,
Francisco Javier Rodríguez and
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 ...
, all tested positive for
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 commonl ...
. The five players were subsequently suspended from the Gold Cup squad and sent home. Although testing positive for the substance, Mexican officials believed the drug was inadvertently taken, claiming that positive test results were caused by eating meat tainted with the drug. Later that same day, in spite of being shorthanded, Mexico still earned their second win of the tournament against Cuba, again winning by a 5–0 scoreline. Both
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 known ...
, and Giovani dos Santos netted twice for Mexico. The third goalscorer,
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 ...
scored within a minute of being substituted into the game.
The following day, CONCACAF General Secretary
Chuck Blazer had scheduled a meeting of the confederation's national teams committee, which also serves as the organizing committee of the Gold Cup, was to be convened to consider the doping situation, including possibly allowing Mexico to replace the five suspended players. However, the meeting was postponed to allow for more information to be gathered.
Still with no conclusion from CONCACAF, the Mexican team finished out their group play on June 12 with a 4–1 victory over
Costa Rica. All four of Mexico's goals were scored within the first half of play and came from four players.
On June 14, 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 that the "B" samples of those five involving players were negative.
As Group A winners, Mexico played
Group B
Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...
third-place finishers,
Guatemala on June 18. Narrowly edging
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
on
gold differential, Guatemala earned a berth in the quarterfinals thanks to a 4–0 victory over
Grenada. In the fifth minute of play, Guatemala's
Carlos Ruiz opened the scoring to give ''Los Chapines'' a 1–0 lead. For Mexico, it was the first time in the entire tournament they found themselves trailing their opposition. Three minutes into the second half, de Nigris scored for Mexico, tying the match at 1–1. Twenty minutes later, Hernández netted the match winning goal, to give Mexico a berth into the semifinals.
The following day, the Gold Cup Organizing Committee announced on June 19 that Mexico will be allowed to replace the suspended players.
The replacements were able to travel in time for ''El Tris semifinal fixture against
Honduras.
With the semifinal match between the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
beforehand, it was determined that the winner of the match would play the United States in the Gold Cup final. Scoreless through regulation time, Mexico and Honduras had to play through a 30-minute extra time. Within the first two minutes, Mexico would score twice, to lift them to a 2–0 lead. Again, it was de Nigris and Hernandez who would score for ''El Tri'', both of whom scored in the same respective fashion as they did against Guatemala. Mexico was able to hold the two-goal advantage through the remainder of the first extra time period and the entire second period, giving them a third straight berth into the final.
United States
The Gold Cup hosts were drawn into
Group C
Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs.
It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...
, along with
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and
Guadeloupe.
Being the last group to commence group play, the Gold Cup hosts opened this phase of the tournament on June 7, 2011, against Canada at
Ford Field in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
. In front of a crowd of 29,000 the United States scored a pair of goals, each coming in different halves, giving the hosts a 2–0 victory over Canada. The United States'
Jozy Altidore
Josmer Volmy "Jozy" Altidore ( ; born November 6, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club New England Revolution.
Altidore made his professional debut in 2006, at the age of 16, with ...
opened the scoring in the 15th minute, when he made a breakaway deep into the penalty box, slotted a shot underneath Canadian goalkeeper,
Lars Hirschfeld. In the second half of play, a 62nd-minute goal from
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 Soccer ...
gave the United States the 2–0 lead, which would be their opening win of group play.
Four days later, the United States suffered a setback in group play when they suffered a 1–2 defeat to Panama at
Raymond James Stadium
Raymond James Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Tampa, Florida that opened in 1998 and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls college football program. The s ...
in
Tampa. With all the goals coming in the first half of play, Panama opened the score sheet at the virtue of an own goal in the 19th minute from
Clarence Goodson
Clarence Edgar Goodson IV (born May 17, 1982) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender.
Youth career
Born in Alexandria, Virginia, Goodson attended Annandale High School his freshman and sophomore seasons before moving to ...
. In the 36th minute, a penalty kick was ruled by the official,
Marco Antonio Rodríguez
Marco Antonio Rodríguez Moreno (born 10 November 1973 in Mexico City) is a Mexican former football referee.
Career
An international referee since 2000, Rodríguez has been selected for three FIFA World Cups. In the 2006 tournament in Germany, ...
, allowing Panama's
Gabriel Gómez to double Panama's lead. Their two-goal lead was cut in half through the United States' Goodson, who headed a
Landon Donovan corner kick in the 68th minute, bringing the U.S. within a goal. The Panamanians were able to weather wave upon wave of attacks from the Americans, earning the 2–1 victory. The loss, was their United States' first group stage loss in Gold Cup history. With Canada
earning a 1–0 victory against Guadeloupe, the United States found themselves narrowly ahead of Canada for second place in the group, only ousting Canada through goal differential.
Although the odds of the United States failing to make the knockout round were slim, even if the squad lost to Guadeloupe, a win in their final group match was necessary for the team to advance into the quarterfinals. Held at
Livestrong Sporting Park
Children's Mercy Park is a soccer-specific stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, United States, and is the home of Sporting Kansas City. The stadium is located near Kansas Speedway, on the far west side of Wyandotte County, Kansas. It opened during th ...
in
Kansas City on June 14, 2011, Guadeloupe's
Stéphane Auvray had a shot deflect off the post in the 4th minute of play. Despite the early wave of attacking from Guadeloupe, the United States scored on their first shot on goal, thanks to a 10th minute shot from Alitdore, who scored from 25 yards out. The early goal ended up being the lone goal of the match. With Panama drawing 1–1 against Canada, the United States advanced to the quarterfinals as group runners-up, for the first time in Gold Cup history.
A week later, on June 19, 2011, the United States played Group B winners,
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
in the quarterfinals. The Jamaican team was considered by the media to be one of the strongest teams since the team that earned a World Cup berth in 1998. In group play, Jamaica posted a 3–0–0 record, scoring seven times and not conceding any goals. Their most notable wins included a 2–0 blanking of CONCACAF powerhouse, Honduras and 4–0 thrashing of Grenada. Some even considered Jamaica the match favorites, with Jamaica's high form and the United States' poorer form. Nevertheless, the United States blanked Jamaica in the quarterfinals, and earned a 2–0 victory. In front of a sold-out crowd at
RFK Stadium in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, the U.S. scored in the 49th minute from own goal and a 79th-minute goal from Dempsey. Following the match, Panama and El Salvador played on another where the Panamians booked a second date against the United States in the tournament.
Seeking redemption, the United States were able to do so when playing against Panama in the semifinals of the tournament. Played on June 22, 2011, at
Reliant Stadium
NRG Stadium, formerly Reliant Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retrac ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
, the two sides remained gridlocked well through the second half. Dempsey, was able to score a late goal off of a Donovan cross to give the U.S. a 1–0 lead, which ended up becoming the match-winning goal.
Match details
References
External links
CONCACAF Gold Cup Game Schedule
{{United States men's national soccer team matches
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 ...
CONCACAF Gold Cup finals
CONCACAF Gold Cup Final
CONCACAF Gold Cup Final
United States men's national soccer team matches
Mexico national football team matches
Mexico–United States soccer rivalry
Sports competitions in Pasadena, California
CONCACAF Gold Cup Final
CONCACAF Gold Cup Final
21st century in Pasadena, California
Soccer in Greater Los Angeles