2019 Concacaf Gold Cup — Group Stage
Mexico vs. Cuba
Rose Bowl — Pasadena
June 15 — 10:00 PM ET
TV: FS2, Univision, UDN, TSN2
STREAMING: FOX Sports GO
The Tata Martino era truly begins for Mexico as he hopes to lead El Tri to a seventh Gold Cup title six months after guiding Atlanta United to the MLS Cup crown.
First up is Cuba Saturday night at the Rose Bowl in front of the first of what will be many pro-Mexican crowds. The teams have met three previous times in the Gold Cup, with Mexico claiming three comfortable victories. This is the seventh time El Tri have played at the Rose Bowl in Gold Cup history.
Mexico
Mexico, which along with the US are the only countries to qualify for all 15 Gold Cups, have won all four international friendlies since Martino took the helm, with each victory coming against South American opposition.
Their last match was a 3-2 win over Ecuador on June 9 with LA Galaxy midfielder Jonathan dos Santos putting El Tri in front in the first half. Luis Montes and Luis Rodriguez added second-half goals.
Prior, in his return to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Martino helped guide Mexico over Venezuela, 3-1. Roberto Alvarado, Rodolfo Pizarro and Andres Guardado had the responses after Jhon Murillo put Venezuela in front after 18 minutes.
Cuba
Cuba qualified for the Gold Cup for the ninth time with a sixth-place finish in Concacaf Nations League qualifying. This is their first appearance since 2015, when they reached the quarterfinals for the third time.
Luis Paradela and Yordan Santa Cruz have combined for nine goals in the CNL qualifiers, with Cuba beating Turks and Caicos Islands, Grenada and Nicaragua. They lost to Haiti in the final match.
Series Matchup
- Mexico: 3 wins, 13 goals
- Cuba: 0 wins, 1 goal
Officials
- Referee: Pitti, John Francis (PAN)
- Assistant Referees: RamÃrez Soto, Christian Jesús (HON), Pupiro Esquivel, Henri Antonio (NCA)
- 4th Official: Herrera Villalobos, Keylor Antonio (CRC)
