Unlike the FIFA World Cup, the CONCACAF Gold Cup often is contested by B and C teams due to vacation, injuries and youth callups.
“We have a lot of young players that need more opportunities to play real minutes,” Canada men’s national soccer team coach Jesse Marsch said ahead of this year’s championship tournament of North and Central America and the Caribbean. “There’s a lot ways I think to use the tournament to broaden our player pool and to strengthen what we’re doing with our team.”
Reigning champion Mexico opens the 16-nation event Saturday against the Dominican Republic in a first-round group that also includes Costa Rica and Suriname. The reeling United States, on its first four-game losing streak since 2007, starts Sunday against Trinidad and Tobago, then plays invited guest Saudi Arabia and CONCACAF member Haiti.
Canada is grouped with Honduras, El Salvador and Curacao, and Panama is together with Jamaica, Guatemala and Guadeloupe.
“We have the obligation of being the favorites. We have to accept that title,” Javier Aguirre, hired last summer for his third stint as Mexico’s coach, said through a translator.