2019 Gold Cup (Group Play)

I hadn't planned on recording my thoughts on Gold Cup group play but I have watched all the games (each team has played once), so I might as well.

A
Mexico 7-0 Cuba
Canada 4-0 Martinique

Mexico is clearly the best team in the entire field. Cuba is not the worst but easily in the bottom half of teams. Martinique is probably the worst team in the field, Canada looks good now but I suspect they're not good at all.

Mexico will destroy Canada and Martinique and easily win this group.
Canada/Cuba will battle for 2nd place (Canada is probably better but Cuba seemed a little more dangerous around the goal; Cuba has a puncher's chance but I'll take Canada).
Martinique is going to get destroyed--DE-stroyed--by Mexico and Cuba will likely lay a pasting on them, too.


B
Haiti 2-1 Bermuda
Costa Rica 4-0 Nicaragua

Bermuda dominated the 1st half but Haiti had more big play potential; sure enough Haiti scored on two set plays and left Bermuda behind. Neither of these squads are particularly noteworthy in the long run, though.
Costa Rica handled Nicaragua without much trouble; Costa Rica is generally among the best in CONCACAF so this was a predictable result, meaning I'm not sure how good Costa Rica actually is. Nicaragua is not good.

Costa Rica should beat Haiti and Bermuda and easily win this group.
I don't think Haiti is very good but they are probably better than Nicaragua, so I reckon they'll finished 2nd.
Bermuda was fun to watch, possessed the ball well at times, I think they'll beat Nicaragua.
Nicaragua is not good.


C
El Salvador 1-0 Curacao
Jamaica 3-2 Honduras

El Salvador got the dagger goal right before halftime and made it hold up; El Salvador is savvy and they're good with the ball, usually not a great side but you don't wanna fuck with them. Curacao is roughly the size of Springfield, Missouri, hard to expect them to have a plethora of world class footballers.
Jamaica is always fun to watch, always great athletes, sometimes they're actually good at soccer; hard to tell here because I thought Honduras played with some spunk. I think they're the two best teams in this group.

I think Jamaica beats El Salvador and Curacao, finishes 1st.
I think Honduras beats El Salvador and Curacao, finishes 2nd.
I think El Salvador finishes 3rd.
I think Curacao sounds like a helluva place to visit.


D
Panama 2-0 Trinidad
USA 4-0 Guyana

Personally I kinda thought Trinidad was better than Panama; Panama got two good chances and they finished both of them. But Trinidad's attack felt more dangerous for the most part and they just seemed better with the ball and on the ball. I think both of these squads are gonna be tough for USA to beat.
USA should've won 4-0 and they did, so what does that tell us? I dunno. They did what they should've done so while they have performed the first step, I think the next steps are gonna be tougher and I have no idea if they're ready. Guyana is not good, they play hard, I was impressed that they were still bringing it late in the game, but they're not good.

USA should be better than Panama and Trinidad but I'm just not sure. I beat we draw with Trinidad and then need a result against Panama to move on (because Panama and Trinidad are both gonna use and abuse Guyana). My guess is that we'll draw with Panama, too. So Panama goes through as #1, USA as #2 and Trinidad drops the 3rd (Guyana will be 4th, I am convinced).


In the quarters I got:
Mexico-Haiti (I'll take Mexico)
Costa Rica-Canada (I'll take Costa Rica)
Jamaica-USA (I'll take USA)
Panama-Honduras (I'll take Panama)

(Would that put USA-Mexico in the semis together? I think so but I'm honestly not sure)

Mexico-USA (I'll take Mexico)
Costa Rica-Panama (I'll take Costa Rica)

Mexico-Costa Rica (I'll take Mexico)


Rank them in tiers:

Easily the best team so far
1) Mexico
I guess they could win
2-7) Costa Rica, Jamaica, Honduras, USA, Panama, Trinidad
Long shot
8-10) El Salvador, Canada, Cuba
No
11-13) Haiti, Nicaragua, Bermuda
No chance they even win a game
14-16) Guyana, Curacao, Martinique


Okay, USA is closer to the top than the bottom but they're in a tough group, so it still might not work out for them. We'll see, still can't tell about this team.