CONCACAF Gold Cup - Roundup of the First round

Well, the first set of group matches at the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup are complete. Admittedly it's not the most prestigious or exciting tournament in the world, but it is important to the development of the game in an area where football is growing at a very rapid rate.

Opening day opened with a bit of an upset, Canada toppling Costa Rica 2-1 with goals from Deportivo midfielder Julian de Guzman. Costa Rica are clearly not the same without their talisman Paulo Wanchope, and it will be interesting to see how they fare in this tournament. They have always been exciting, difficult opposition with Wanchope leading the line, now nobody knows.

Two Francophone teams also faced off that day - Guadeloupe and Haiti playing to a 1-1 draw.

Then, the next day, the USA produced a lacklustre performance in a 1-0 win over Guatemala. It was interesting to see since the US are somewhat favourites for the tournament. They have a host of European-based players, and of course the MLS is one of the best 3 leagues in the region. On the day however, they were very ineffective. The Guatemalans were extremely physical, and managed to bully the Americans a bit, but it's all part of the game.

Several voices in the media have criticised the physical play from the Guatemalans, but there is a huge element of hypocrisy to that. The USA have long been a very physical team, full of athletes and big strong lads at the back and in the middle. That they now start getting bullied by the Guatemalans (who hardly have a reputation for being physical, or at least effectively so) now seems a bit silly. Still, a win is a win. The only goal was scored by Clint Dempsey, who although he was patchy, seems to be in a bit of form having ended the season well with Fulham. Ogyuchi "Gooch" Onyewu failed to keep his cool in the face of provocation from the infuriating Ruiz, but really the USA will have to play miles better if they think they can win. This is of course a big test for coach Bob Bradley, having replaced the "legendary" (he qualifies doesn't he?) Bruce Arena. History has often shown that successors to legends seldom last long, but play their part in paving the way for the future.

Trinidad & Tobago, who gave a decent showing at the World Cup lost pathetically to El Salvador, 2-1, although almost ALL their big name players were missing.

Neighbours Panama and Honduras played out a thrilling 3-2 game. Losers Honduras had the odds against them from the start when they had a man sent off after 26 minutes, and then found themselves a goal down after 33. They rallied well through MLS star Amado Guevara, but then conceded another two goals. They scored a Costly consolation in the 90th minute.

Finally, heavyweights Mexico were given a scare by minnows Cuba (no offence Fidel), when they allowed the Cubans to score the first goal. But they soon sorted matters out through their long-necked talisman striker Jared Borgetti (who is also quite long-in-the-teeth by now as well) to make it 1-1, and then up-and-comer Nery Castillo scored the winner. The Mexicans had a full-strength side out and really made hard work of their more baseball-inclined opposition.