After last night’s game, we can officially say the Gold Cup is a circus – and not the fancy Cirque de Soleil kind. The shitty local fair with dubious animal treatment kind.
Mexico is now in the final after a very shameful 2-1 victory over Panama in a game that went into extra time despite the Canaleros being down one man for most of the game.
Andrés Guardado tied the game with a penalty kick during the last minutes and took it to extra time, where the Tri captain netted another one in the 113th minute and close the game in favor of Mexico.
10-man Panama scored first with a header by Roman Torres in the 56th minute, and el Tri was unable to provide a response until the referee award a very – VERY – controversial penalty against Captain goal-scorer Torres.
Much like in the Quarterfinal game against Costa Rica, where Mexico was awarded a last minute pk, el Tri once again advances with the help of the Ref, who saw a very questionable handball from Torres that not even the Mexican players were protesting.
The ref’s decision turned the field into a chaos, with cups being thrown from the stands and the Panamanian players fighting for justice.
The game seems to reflect the darkest side of the CONCACAF, whose questionable refereeing makes fans suspicious of what would have happen if the final didn’t have any of the big fishes, as the United States had just been eliminated by Jamaica. It was so disheartening, that Panama’s coach even stated that the 88th minute of the match made him consider retiring from soccer altogether.
Mexico will now be playing the final despite having only won one game in regular time (against Cuba) and having tied their last 4 games. Jamaica on the other hand, has been the surprise of the tournament, having won 4 games and tied only one.
Now Mexico and Jamaica, who came in at the bottom of the Copa America, will play for an even more devalued Gold Cup title.
https://twitter.com/BrianStraus/status/624082504262250496