Getty Jamaica's Andre Blake has been the best keeper at this year's Gold Cup.
Mexico is once again a game away from a summer final, and will have to knock off continental rival Jamaica to advance to face the Americans.
Summer tournaments have been rough for Mexico recently, but the Gold Cup is where they clean up their act. They’ve raised the trophy at three of the last four Gold Cups, including a win over Jamaica at the 2015 final. But the past two summers, semifinal losses at Confederations Cup and Copa America have cut Mexico’s dreams short. For manager Juan Carlos Osorio, this tournament is about showing the supporters that this team can finish a tournament heading into next year’s World Cup.
Ten days ago, Mexico couldn’t finish for 90 minutes against Jamaica. The Reggae Boys parked the bus in Denver, playing Mexico to a scoreless draw in group play. It’s not the typical Jamaica style, but a smart tactical decision against an inexperienced Mexico roster. After Jamaica’s quarterfinal win over Canada, manager Theodore Whitmore promised those same tactics for the semifinal.
“We try to be mean in conceding goals, and that’s been working for us,” Whitmore told USA Today. “We want to be still disciplined. We want to be compact in defense, but on the other hand, I think the transition game in defense is important if we want to get past this Mexico team.”
Darren Mattocks has been the man up top for Jamaica, but he’s recovering from a knock heading into Sunday. Jamaica will rely on Andre Blake in goal, but will need players like Mattocks to make deep runs on the other end and hopefully generate some Reggae Boyz magic.
Kickoff is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. Eastern, and lineups will be posted one hour before kickoff.
Here are the basics:
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 2017
CHANNEL: Fox Sports 1
KICKOFF TIME: 9:00 p.m. Eastern
LOCATION: Rose Bowl, Pasadena CA
LIVE STREAM: Click here for all live streaming information
LINEUP
Mexico: Corona, Duenas, Ayala, Jair, Edson, Molina, Gutierrez, Pizarro, Orbelin, Torres, Elias
Jamaica: Blake, Lowe, Richie, Taylor, Powell, Lawrence, Gordon, Watson, Francis, Williams, Mattocks