US Soccer and the Gold Cup

It's been a while since I've written anything about US Soccer. But the Red White and Blue begin their quest to knock off the Mexican in the CONCACAF Gold Cup team tonight in Portland against Belize. The game will be telecast on Fox Soccer. The past two Gold Cups have seen the Mexican team dominate the US in the final. The 2011 final saw the ousting of then-head coach Bob Bradley who was replaced by Jurgen Klinsmann. At the time it looked like Mexico was going to dominate CONCACAF for years to come and the US was going to end up relegated to second-place.

My, how times have changed.

Instead, Mexico have been struggling throughout the Hex and the US has been flying high. Their only loss this year was against Honduras on a hot afternoon. Mexico has yet to break out of a funk were they've tied most of their matches, even in their impenetrable fortress Estadio Azteca. That included a scoreless draw against the hated Gringos.

Now, with Mexico losing 2-1 in their opening Gold Cup group stage match against Panama. The blood is in the water and the CONCACAF sharks can smell it coming from the hated giants. Tonight the US will take on Belize in what looks to be a decisively pro-US  crowd in Portland, home of Timbers Army (although that might not matter. Panama defeated Mexico in a pro-Mexico crowd in the Rose Bowl). Long-time American superstar Landon Donovan will lead a high-class "B" team in their quest to win the Gold Cup for the first time in six years.

However, Belize won't go down quietly. They've already made waves with the President of Belize's FA declaring that he wants his team to embarrass the American team. Strong words coming from a country making its first Gold Cup appearance.

However, the US should be wary and they should not take them lightly. The US has been on the winning side of several big-time upsets themselves, especially Landon Donovan. Indeed, according to some words by Kyle Beckerman, they're not taking Belize lightly. The "Jaguars", as they're known, once held Mexico scoreless back in 2008 before Mexico pulled away for a 2-0 victory. Indeed, even Canada lost to Martinique. It's possible this Gold Cup might be a tournament of upsets.

But the US has an advantage with big-name stars and a few part-timers on this team. This is could be a B+ team, if you want to call it that. It's not just Donovan, who's making his first MNT appearance in over a year, but Oguchi Onyewu and Stuart Holden, both MNT regulars before knee injuries temporarily halted their careers. Also in the mix are Mix Diskerud and Kyle Beckerman. Diskerud shows serious promise for the national team while Beckerman is solid, but not World Cup material.

Either way, it looks to be an interesting match tonight. I expect the US, boosted by a pro-US crowd to break the chain of upsets, but Belize will keep it close. I don't make predictions, so I'll just watch and see what happens.