Tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. CT on ESPN, the LA Galaxy hosts Los Angeles FC in the fourth edition of El Tráfico. The early days of the Los Angeles Derby have been largely dominated by two players: LAFC’s Carlos Vela is the rivalry's top scorer with four to his name, but the Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimović is right behind him with three, including that unforgettable brace on his MLS debut.
The new season of Liga MX kicked off yesterday with the annual curtain raiser, the Campeón de Campeones. The one-off match pits the previous season’s Apertura and Clausura winners against each other, so last night in Carson, California we had Club América taking on Tigres at Dignity Health Sports Park (home of the LA Galaxy).
The match finished 0-0 after 90 minutes and went straight to a penalty shootout. In goal for América was Agustín Marchesín, and the 31-year-old Argentine absolutely dominated proceedings.
It’s been just over eight years since Giovani dos Santos scored one of the greatest goals in Gold Cup history, putting the finishing touches on a 4-2 Mexico victory over the USMNT during the 2011 final. Fast forward to the present day and it’s his younger brother, Jonathan, who’s cemented El Tri’s continental dominance.
Anyone who has been to or even just watched on TV one of Mexico’s 2019 Gold Cup matches this summer knows it to be true: El Tri fans are still using the anti-gay chant during opposition goal kicks. Fans don’t seem to care that it is indisputably anti-gay and continue to use it despite tame, failed attempts from the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) to stop them.
Mexico’s quest for its eighth Gold Cup — and first since 2015 — almost came to an abrupt end in Houston last night in front of over 70,000 at NRG Stadium. Raúl Jiménez had given El Tri a first half lead, only for Costa Rica to respond in the second half via a converted Bryan Ruiz penalty.
That would be the only scoring on the night, so the match would be decided on penalties. The shootout started as a nightmare for Mexico after Jiménez had his shot saved while Celso Borges converted for Costa Rica.
What is happening with Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez at West Ham? The Mexico legend has had an inconsistent time at the club and was in and out of the line up during the 2018-19 English Premier League season.
The much-loved forward moved to the Hammers during the 2017-18 season after an incredibly successful time in the Bundesliga, spending two years with Bayer Leverkusen where he made 61 appearances and scored 28 goals. That success has not translated well to the EPL, where he’s managed 16 goals in two years at West Ham, often coming in and out of the starting line-up.
The 2019 Gold Cup is in full motion and the group stages are wrapping up with the protagonists you would expect to make it to the next phase making it into the knockout stages. The tournament is Concacaf's premier regional tournament that comes every two years and almost always features the same two in the final: the United States and Mexico, with Mexico often coming out on top. That wasn’t the case in the last edition of the Copa Oro, with the U.S. taking home the cup, beating Jamaica 2-1 in the final. Jamaica definitely had an unexpected run to the final and Mexico disappointed.
You just can’t give Andres Guardado that much space.
Canada may have one of its best squads in decades, but if it wants to compete for its first Gold Cup since 2000, the Canucks will have to defend better than they did early in the second half against Mexico.
Yasmani López, who captained Cuba in a 7-0 loss to Mexico on Saturday, has defected, Cuba coach Raul Mederos has confirmed.
Cuba was routed by El Tri in their Gold Cup opener at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and López did not travel with the team to Denver, where Cuba will play Martinique on Wednesday.