USA 4 Guyana 0
By Paul Nicholson at the Allianz Field, St Paul, Minnesota
June 17 – The last match of first round games at the Gold Cup saw the entry of the USA into competitive action. Guyana were the lambs lined up for the ritual slaughter at the Allianz Field in St Paul, Minnesota.
Panama 2 Trinidad and Tobago 0
By Paul Nicholson at the Allianz Field, St Paul, Minnesota
June 18 – Panama’s superior quality on the ball and greater physical strength off it put paid to a spirited Trinidad resistance to take first Group D blood in Minnesota United’s shiny new stadium in Saint Paul.
June 18 – Day 5 and the Concacaf group rotation starts again with Group A, the high scoring Mexicans and Canadians, and the altitude of the Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado.
Jamaica 4 Honduras 2
June 17 – The Reggae Boyz caused the first surprise of the Gold Cup on home ground in Kingston, Jamaica, with a 3-2 win over Honduras.
June 17 – The US and Guyana have never played each other before. Guyana have never even made it to a Gold Cup final tournament until now. The US are playing in their 15th finals and looking to retain their title won in 2015. On the face it you wouldn’t hold out much hope for the Guyanans.
June 17 – Nelson Bonilla’s late strike in added time of the first half was enough to give El Salvador the opening three points in Group C play at the Independence Park Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.
June 17 – At the pre-match press conference at the Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Trinidad and Tobago coach Dennis Lawrence was asked to name his team. He responded saying “Cummings, Escobar, Torres on the right, Quintero…”, Panama’s key men minus the injured Kevin Galván.
June 17 – With Jamaica hosting the first ever round of Gold Cup matches in the Caribbean today, Concacaf have taken the opportunity to run a series of ‘safeguarding’ professional development workshops in the run-up to the matches.
June 17 – In a traditionally cricket-mad nation, football takes centre stage later today when the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica host a Gold Cup match for the first time ever, taking on Honduras in both team’s Group C opener as the tournament takes the Caribbean by storm.
June 17 – The Gold Cup breaks exciting new ground today as the Group C encounter between Curaçao and El Salvador marks the tournament debut in Kingston, Jamaica, part of Concacaf’s policy to spread the tournament around.
June 17 – Costa Rica made Gold Cup history Sunday night, and took three points as well to kick off their 2019 Gold Cup campaign in style.
June 17 – It was an evening in uncharted Gold Cup territory. While Cost Rica were hosting matches for the first time outside North America, tiny Bermuda were creating a first of their own with their debut in the finals of the tournament.
June 16 – Mexican fans started the party at Gold Cup. A crowd of 65,536 poured itself out of the Futbol Fiesta in the grounds surrounding the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to watch a 7-goal fiesta in the stadium as an impressive Mexican dismantled Cuba.
Mexico 7 Cuba 0
By Paul Nicholson at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena
June 15 – Mexico opened their 2019 Gold Cup campaign with a bang, scoring after just two minutes against Cuba before going on to thump in six more goals to demonstrate why they are tournament favourites. They will have much harder games than this but even so it was a message emphatically delivered.
Canada 4 Martinique 0
By Paul Nicholson at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena
June 15 – Four goals from a rampant Canada opened the 2019 Gold Cup in style at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The Canadians issued an early warning that talk of them being contenders for the title is not misplaced. Group and tournament favourites Mexico will have taken note.