The Gold Cup Begins With A Bang

The Gold Cup has begun!




And we're underway! As you probably know, The 2010 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup began today, and the tournament is already off to a great start. The opening match was played between Costa Rica and Guatemala, with Costa Rica grabbing the win with a 1-0 scoreline, the lone goal courtesy of Venegas in the 51st. I unfortunately missed the game and was only able to catch the last 5-10 minutes. So, that's 3 points for Costa Rica.



The 2nd match of the day was USA vs. Haiti. What a game it was! (If of course you were a USWNT fan like myself. If you were a fan of Haiti...then maybe not a great game to watch). It was a goalfest that ended 5-0 in the USA's favor, however it could have easily ended 8 or 9-0. For the USA, goals from Buehler, A-Rod, and a hat-trick from Wambach, led the team to victory.

Wambach celebrates one of her 3 goals in the match against Haiti. Her Hat-Trick, along with goals from Buehler and A-Rod, helped the USWNT in gaining the 3 point win.



However there should have been plenty more goals. If not for the missed opportunities, unbelievably close shots, and some downright poor offsides calls, this game could have ended much worse for the Haitians. But, why emphasize a negative aspect? The USWNT kicked ass, and Wambach got a well deserved hat-trick (one that has seemed to elude her for a while). Who could ask for more? In fact, saying they should have scored more shows just how much they dominated the match. Besides, why kill yourself when you're going to win, risking an injury or further tiring yourself out? The USWNT definitely took it down a few notches in the second half, but I don't blame them. Overall, it was an excellent and entertaining performance from the USWNT, and Haiti gave it a valiant effort. However, I would like to point out that the Haitians played a little dirty. A rough tackle made on Wambach in the first half could have easily been a red, but a yellow was given. Throughout the match Haiti persisted with some rather harsh tackles. Not only that, but the diving! Felt like I was watching La Liga all over again, what with players obnoxiously flipping and rolling around after tripping on their own shoe laces, and with some players who were barely touched writhing in supposed 'pain'. It was ridiculous. Anyway, Group B's first matchday ends with the United States and Costa Rica atop the group table with 3 points each.


Tomorrow, Group A will kick off its Gold Cup action. Tomorrow's matches will see Canada face off against Trinidad and Tobago, and then later will feature hosts Mexico facing off against Guyana. Be sure to catch both games live on concacaf.com!


That's it for today everyone, I'll be sure to get a picture or 2 up for this post, and I'll do my best to cover tomorrow's matches as well!

P.S.- By the way, when I say 'tomorrow' I actually mean today, since its technically Friday. Here on the East Coast, its about 2:00am, and I don't consider it the next day until morning. Just thought I'd clear that up to help prevent confusion!

Gold Cup is off to a great start and I'm excited for more! See you all tomorrow!


Until then,

Denise