Gold Cup notes

1) The USA's loss to Panama is only their 6th in 51 Gold Cup games, and first in the group stage (as you might've heard by now). Previously, they had only lost to Brazil and Mexico. Both the Americans and the Mexicans now have six defeats each, though the USA have played three more games. 2) Ominously for the US, no team has ever won the Gold Cup with a loss. 3) Cuba's performance in this year's edition (0 points, -15 goal differential) was the worst in tournament history, beating out 2009's Grenada (0, -10). There's still hope for the Spice Boys: If they lose by more than 5 to Guatemala today, they'll get that title back. Seems unlikely due to the lack of firepower by the Guatemalans. Of course, I still expect a 3+ goal win. 4) Mexico, who helped put some of that hurt on the Cubans, is scoring at a phenomenal rate of over 4 goals per game. They have 14 so far after 3 games (with 1 against), but they'll have to continue at that exact pace to match the 1993 winners. That Mexico team ended up with 28 goals scored and 2 allowed, all coming in only five matches.

MLS/Gold Cup - Week 19 Notes

1) All time CONCACAF Gold Cup stats have been updated with the completion of the tournament. I've included all time W-L-D records for each team, the top 25 goalscorers, and more. Would you believe that Guadeloupe already has more Gold Cup wins than Guatemala, and as many as Panama and Trinidad? 2) It's not too early to be thinking about the seeding for the 2014 CONCACAF World Cup qualifying...at least it shouldn't be if you read this blog. 25% of the games played data that counts towards the May 2011 FIFA ranking is complete, and Edgar at Football Rankings has posted what the current seedings would be. Guatemala could be the next cycle's El Salvador. No hex, no Gold Cup, and maybe as a result a really hard matchup just to get into the semifinals. 3) It's been a crazy week for the American soccer state attendance records. Three records were set in the last three days: Maryland, Kansas, and New Jersey. That's a preseason friendly between two Euro clubs, an MLS regular season match, and the Gold Cup final respectively. 4) Don Garber's (not mentioned anywhere except for one sentence in an MLSnet article) big announcment is tomorrow in SLC: "Following the press conference, Commissioner Don Garber will make a special announcement." Speculation is fun, though. As somebody mentioned, it's unlikely to be anything competition related since that's usually at the end of the year (single table could be a long shot, though). It's also unlikely to be anything team specific since it's being made at the all star game. If there is to be any actual big news, my guess is that he'll say the designated player rule is being renewed. That's competition-related, but you can't exactly wait until the offseason to decide on it, plus it's already a foregone conclusion since players have multiple year contracts. Such an announcement would be obvious, yet still newsworthy, which makes it perfect for this sort of thing. The really big news never seems to stay secret (witness the expansion race earlier this year). 5) You probably heard this over the weekend. The Columbus Crew have now gone 19 straight home regular season matches without a defeat; that's a new league record (my list of record home/away streaks is due for an update). However, they're still two games away from the all competitions record of 23 in a row. That's held by the 2000-01 Chicago Fire. The Crew are currently at 21 games including the two from the playoffs last year. They'll likely need some results in the Champions League to break that one as well.

CONCACAF Gold Cup - All Time Stats

All Time Records GP W L D Pts PPG GF GA GD GC 1 United States 49 38 5 6 120 2.45 93 34 59 10 2 Mexico 45 32 6 7 103 2.29 103 24 79 10 3 Costa Rica 38 13 15 10 49 1.29 61 51 10 9 4 Canada 32 14 11 7 49 1.53 41 46 -5 9 5 Honduras 31 14 13 4 46 1.48 52 44 8 9 6 Brazil 14 8 4 2 26 1.86 22 9 13 3 7 Jamaica 25 6 15 4 22 0.88 25 47 -22 7 8 Colombia 13 5 6 2 17 1.31 14 17 -3 3 9 Trinidad & Tobago 19 4 11 4 16 0.84 24 35 -11 7 10 Panama 17 4 7 6 18 1.06 23 26 -3 4 11 El Salvador 17 5 11 1 16 0.94 11 31 -20 6 12 Guatemala 23 3 14 6 15 0.65 18 40 -22 8 13 Guadeloupe 9 4 4 1 13 1.44 10 13 -3 2 14 Haiti 12 2 6 4 10 0.83 10 19 -9 4 15 South Africa 4 1 0 3 6 1.50 7 6 1 1 16 Martinique 8 1 5 2 5 0.63 5 20 -15 3 17 Cuba 13 1 10 2 5 0.38 10 37 -27 5 18 Peru 4 1 2 1 4 1.00 7 7 0 1 19 South Korea 7 0 3 4 4 0.57 5 9 -4 2 20 Ecuador 2 1 1 0 3 1.50 2 2 0 1 21 St. Vincent 2 0 2 0 0 0.00 0 8 -8 1 21 Nicaragua 3 0 3 0 0 0.00 0 8 -8 1 23 Grenada 3 0 3 0 0 0.00 0 10 -10 1 GC is the number of Gold Cups played in. After 2009, we can see that Costa Rica has overtaken Canada for third on goal difference. However, they've played six more games. Guadeloupe is already 14th and has more wins than Guatemala. Grenada's zero points and -10 GD is the worst single performance in tournament history. You could also make a case for St. Vincent in 1996, who had zero points and a -8 GD in only two games. Mexico won the tournament without losing a game, but every winner has been undefeated. The only teams to have a 100% record are 1996 Mexico, 1998 Mexico, and 2007 USA. This year's Mexico squad did score 15 goals, second all time for a single tournament. The record belongs to 1993 Mexico with 28 (and only 2 against), which is unlikely to be broken any time soon. Despite their disappointing loss in the final, the USA did break Mexico's record Gold Cup unbeaten streak. Mexico went 16 games undefeated from 1991-2000, but the USA bested them with 18 straight. The streak started in the 2003 third place game and lasted through the 2009 semifinal. The record winless streak is held by Guatemala at 15 games (1996-2007). USA & Mexico Losses The top two teams have been incredibly dominant and only have 11 losses combined. USA losses: 1993-Mexico 1996-Brazil 1998-Mexico 2003-Brazil 2009-Mexico Mexico losses: 1991-USA 2000-Canada 2005-South Africa, Colombia 2007-Honduras, USA All Time Goalscorers 1 Zaguinho MEX 13 2 Landon Donovan USA 12 3 Walter Centeno CR 9 3 Carlos Pavon HON 9 3 Eric Wynalda USA 9 6 Paulo Wanchope CR 8 6 Brian McBride USA 8 8 Eduardo Bennett HON 7 8 Jared Borgetti MEX 7 10 Ali Gerba CAN 6 10 Blas Perez PAN 6 10 DaMarcus Beasley USA 6 13 Carlo Corazzin CAN 5 13 Carlos Ruiz GUA 5 13 Carlos Costly HON 5 13 Cuauhtemoc Blanco MEX 5 13 Luis Hernandez MEX 5 13 Luis Miguel Salvador MEX 5 13 Luis Tejada PAN 5 20 Dwayne De Rosario CAN 4 20 Rolando Fonseca CR 4 20 Juan Carlos Plata GUA 4 20 Benjamin Galindo MEX 4 20 Miguel Sabah MEX 4 20 Arnold Dwarika TRI 4 Donovan should be able to overtake Zague/Zaguinho/Alves/whatever if he plays in the next edition. Zaguinho scored 12 goals in the 1993 tournament, including 7 in one game versus Martinique. Centeno scored a goal in this year's Gold Cup, reaching third place. Also: the 500th goal in tournament history was scored this year. It took place in the group stage when Mexico played Panama. The opener, by eventual golden boot winner Miguel Sabah of Mexico in the 10th minute, was the milestone goal. Most Tournaments Scored In 1 Eric Wynalda USA 5 1991, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000 2 Walter Centeno CR 4 2002, 2003, 2007, 2009 2 Landon Donovan USA 4 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 3 Ali Gerba CAN 3 2005, 2007, 2009 3 Hernan Medford CR 3 1991, 2000, 2002 3 Paulo Wanchope CR 3 1998, 2000, 2002 3 Carlos Ruiz GUA 3 2003, 2005, 2007 3 Juan Carlos Plata GUA 3 1998, 2000, 2002 3 Carlos Pavon HON 3 1998, 2000, 2007 3 Andy Williams JAM 3 1998, 2003, 2005 3 Cuauhtemoc Blanco MEX 3 1996, 1998, 2007 3 Jared Borgetti MEX 3 2003, 2005, 2007 3 Ramon Ramirez MEX 3 1993, 1998, 2000 3 Brian McBride USA 3 2000, 2002, 2003 3 DaMarcus Beasley USA 3 2002, 2005, 2007 Centeno tied Donovan for second, while Gerba joined the three timers.

MLS/Gold Cup - Week 18 Notes

1) A new Texas record for soccer attendance was set last night in the Gold Cup doubleheader: 82,252 fans for Costa Rica-Guadeloupe and Mexico-Haiti. I've updated my list of state records. Also, the friendly between AC Milan and Chelsea in Baltimore this week will set a new Maryland record. Already, it's a 70,000 seat sell out. 2) I've been talking about it, and now it's official. The USA now has the longest Gold Cup unbeaten streak, at 17 games dating back to 2003 (list of games). They broke a tie with Mexico's 16 game streak (1991-2000). 3) About the latest OTFATT update. I mentioned Carey Talley being in danger of suspension. Well in fact yesterday he ended up picking up that 5th yellow card, so he'll drop off the list as of the next Chivas league game. 4) MLSnet has changed its matchtrackers. When you visit the match center page, they're now using the "VW Game Nav" instead of the old version. However, the old matchtrackers are still there if you input the urls yourself. Here's the url to last night's Revs-Chivas match: http://web.mlsnet.com/scoreboard/game.jsp?match=07192009_CHVNE Just change the date and the team abbreviations for different matches. I actually make good use of these; if I miss a match, I'll type in the link to the pbp, start from the bottom and slowly read upwards. That way I can have a little more drama than just immediately seeing the result. 5) The New York Red Bulls are on pace to be the worst team in league history, and San Jose's not doing much better. The good news is that NY only needs 6 points in the final 10 games to avoid taking the record from the 2001 Tampa Bay Mutiny: 2000 DC United 0.938 2000 San Jose 0.906 2007 Real Salt Lake 0.900 2001 Colorado 0.885 2007 Toronto 0.833 1999 Kansas City 0.813 2003 Dallas 0.767 2009 San Jose 0.765 1999 New York 0.625 2005 Real Salt Lake 0.625 2005 Chivas USA 0.563 2001 Tampa Bay 0.519 2009 New York 0.500 You can see the PPG ranking for all 149 MLS team seasons (1996-2008) here.

MLS - Week 17 Notes (plus Gold Cup)

1) The USMNT have now gone 16 matches in a row undefeated in Gold Cup play, dating back to the 2003 third place match. That ties the record set by Mexico, whose streak lasted from 1991-2000 and also began in a third place match. The streak: 1 2003-07-26 3rd Costa Rica 3-2 W 2 2005-07-07 Grp Cuba 4-1 W 3 2005-07-09 Grp Canada 2-0 W 4 2005-07-12 Grp Costa Rica 0-0 D 5 2005-07-16 QF Jamaica 3-1 W 6 2005-07-21 SF Honduras 2-1 W 7 2005-07-24 F Panama 0-0 D 8 2007-06-07 Grp Guatemala 1-0 W 9 2007-06-09 Grp Trinidad 2-0 W 10 2007-06-12 Grp El Salvador 4-0 W 11 2007-06-16 QF Panama 2-1 W 12 2007-06-21 SF Canada 2-1 W 13 2007-06-24 F Mexico 2-1 W 14 2009-07-04 Grp Grenada 4-0 W 15 2009-07-08 Grp Honduras 2-0 W 16 2009-07-11 Grp Haiti 2-2 D The USA has still only lost four games in Gold Cup history, twice each to Brazil and Mexico. I wasn't too worried during the match, as I remembered the last minute goal the USA scored the last time we played Haiti. Danny Califf scored in the 94th minute to salvage a 1-1 draw in Miami in 2004. It was also notable for being the only time John Wolyniec started for the USA. Incidentally, I almost forgot the USA was playing yesterday due to the lack of an off day between the second and third group games. Totally missed Friday's games because of that. 2) Home/away discrepancy update: NY - played 3 more away games CHI, NE - played 2 more away games CHV - played 2 more home games SEA, TOR - played 3 more home games 3) Did you know that of the 39 nominees for MLS Rookie of the Year from 1996-2008, only three were teenagers? I'm going by the age they were on July 1st. Those three were Santino Quaranta, Freddy Adu, and Chad Marshall (none of whom won). None of the main candidates this year are that young. The average of a ROTY nominee is 21.91 years, while the average age of the winners is slightly older at 22.13 years. The three oldest winners, all over 23, were Mike Duhaney, Rodrigo Faria, and Sean Franklin. That's not good news for Franklin to be in the same boat with arguably the worst two winners in league history. 4) Most sub appearances without starts. This little known single season record could be in danger of falling in 2009. Jamil Walker is the current record holder with 19 in 2003. However, he has a few serious challengers this year, most notably Eric Avila of FC Dallas. Through 17 games, Avila has come off the bench 14 times without starting (including last night). Unfortunately, FCD is likely to fall out of contention very soon which means that he probably will be starting a few matches at least. Other contenders for the record (or at least the top ten) are Michael Kraus (11), Mike Banner (9), Greg Dalby (8), Roger Levesque (6), and Duncan Oughton (6). 5) Bruce Arena's LA Galaxy team has now won three straight 1-0 matches to jump up the standings. The team is winning with their defense (4th in the league) because their offense certainly hasn't been up to the task (13th). It's not normal for Arena's teams to be defense oriented, however. In the four full seasons he's coached in MLS (1996-98, 2007) that hasn't been the case. In each of those years his teams have ranked higher on offense than on defense. Look: Team Ranks OFF DEF 1996 DC 2 6 1997 DC 1 5 1998 DC 2 3 2006* NY 8 5 2007 NY 3 9 2008** LA 1 14 2009*** LA 13 4 * Only coached 12/32 games. ** Only coached 10/30 games. *** Season is not over yet (17/30 games).

Know Your Gold Cup History

All Time Stats: W-L-D records, top goalscorers, most tournaments scored in. One big record could fall this year. The USA is 3 games away from matching Mexico's 16 game Gold Cup unbeaten streak. Top Ten Moments (ussoccerplayers.com) - Nice article. And why not relive the best Gold Cup ever (2007) by watching the comp I put together of all the goals? That tournament had it all: great goals, controversy (USA vs Canada), cindarellas (Guadeloupe), and a great, dramatic final (USA vs Mexico). You knew from the opening match (Canada vs Costa Rica), which featured a comeback and quality finishing, that it was going to be a good one. Too bad nobody outside of North America noticed.