It was another intense night of Gold Cup action on Sunday with the knockout stage of the tournament getting closer and closer by the minute. In the game we’re going to talk about today, Mexico and El Salvador both battled it out for the right to finish top of their group – and in the end, it was the Mexicans who just about managed to edge themselves over the finish line.
It was a hard-fought battle that was decided by a 26th minute Luis Rodriguez strike, but the scoreline doesn’t even begin to tell the full story.
El Salvador’s resistance
El Salvador pushed and pushed as hard as they could but ultimately, they weren’t able to find the equaliser they so desperately desired. Still, even with that being the case, we still think it’s pretty impressive that they were the ones who turned this into a bit of a shootout and even went close to an equaliser on several occasions. This may not have been the result they wanted, far from it in fact, but we’d say they will be feeling confident about playing just about anyone in the quarter-finals following this performance.
Relief for Mexico
The big concern here was that Mexico could crumble at the first sign of pressure but instead of withering away, they pushed through the pain barrier and saw off an El Salvador side that wasn’t here to mess around. They were efficient with their time and energy, they didn’t panic, and they were actually in control for most of the game. If they can carry that forward into the quarter-finals and beyond then there’s a decent chance they could make it all the way through to the final – but of course, they need to take things one step at a time.
Gold Cup entertainment
This was easily one of the most entertaining 1-0 games we’ve seen in a long time with both sides refusing to back down. Mexico were hungry for more goals, El Salvador were desperate to get on the scoresheet, and in association with one another they played out a really tense tie. They’ve both been able to progress to the next round and even though they won’t be favoured quite as much as United States or perhaps even Canada, they’re still an exciting enough team to warrant some curiosity regarding what they could go on to achieve in the next few weeks.
Oh, and the Gold Cup, as it turns out, is incredibly fun.
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