- USA and Belize have never played eachother
- Belize’s population is 335,000, roughly the size of St. Louis
- Landon Donovan notched his 50th and 51st US goals against Guatemala last week
The US national team will begin their quest for Gold Cup success this evening in Portland, as the host the small Central American nation of Belize. The crowd at JELD-WEN Field are sure to create a raucous atmosphere, as the Timbers Army and American Outlaws go all out to welcome the USA back to Portland for the first-time since 1997.
For Belize, it is their first-ever trip to the Gold Cup, with American coach Ian Mork in charge of the tiny soccer nation. While Jurgen Klinsmann’s much-changed US side are looking to get off to a dominant start in their Group C opener.
Elsewhere in the group, Costa Rica play Cuba which begins at 8:30 pm ET, also up in the Rose City.
Despite the US having a ‘B’ squad available, the Yanks’ reserves should comfortably wipe the floor with the Jaguars. The USA’s diverse roster has several different clusters of players, with experienced pros and young upstarts all looking to edge their way into Klinsmann’s World Cup 2014 plans.
(MORE: Which U.S. men may go from Gold Cup to World Cup)
Tuesday night’s clash will mark the first-ever meeting between the US and Belize, while the USA have played in Portland on three prior occasions, grabbing two wins and a draw.
We all remember the demoralizing 4-2 defeat in the 2011 Gold Cup final to Mexico. After racing into a 2-0 lead at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, Bob Bradley’s men imploded in the second half and that was to be his last act as USMNT manager.
After that debacle, only five players who were involved in the 2011 final defeat are included in Klinsmann’s 23-man roster, with veterans Landon Donovan, Clarence Goodson and Oguchi Onyewu all looking to make amends. Despite everyone wanting and expecting Gold Cup success this summer, US fans will be keen to see which players can adapt and morph into a key component of Klinsmann’s new system. Stuart Holden, Mix Diskerud and Jose Torres have shown glimpses that they can force their way into the midfield picture, this Gold Cup is huge for them.
No doubt, the squad assembled will be going flat out to try and better the achievements of the US national teams three wins from three in the recent CONCACAF Hexagonal qualifying round.
After smashing Guatemala for six last time out, Klinsmann’s hybrid squad looked hungry and defiant to stake their claim for the Gold Cup trophy. It all starts in front of the partisan crowd at JELD-WEN Field at 11pm ET this evening on Fox Soccer.
While Belize will simply be hoping to keep the score respectable against the US and Costa Rica in their first group games before meeting their final game against Cuba. They’re ranked No. 130 in the latest FIFA rankings and have only been a member of the governing body at all since 1986.
The Jaguars qualified for this year’s tournament after a fourth-placed finish in the Copa Centroamericana in January, after beating Nicaragua 2-1 in the group stage keyed by Deon McCauley’s injury-time winner. It was Belize’s first Centroamericana win in 23 tries.
Striker McCauley is their biggest hope for success, and he is still the leading scorer in the current CONCACAF World Cup qualifying round with 11 goals, despite Belize crashing out in the second round way back in 2011.
OTHER NOTES: The USA’s biggest win in an international match came against Barbados on June 15, 2008, when the Nats won 8-0. Can they top that tonight?
