2023 Gold Cup Group C Preview

(image via FEPAFUT)

The 17th edition of the Concacaf Gold Cup continues tonight with El Salvador vs Martinique and Costa Rica vs Panama. Both games are being played at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. These four teams make up Group C for this tournament. Here is an in-depth look at each team.

Panama

Panama is in an interesting position where they have found themselves playing well of late but have yet to overcome the hurdle of beating out either the United States, Canada, or Mexico in tournaments. Their last Gold Cup attempt ended in failure as they failed to make it out of the group. They most recently finished fourth in the Nations League last week, losing to Canada in the semi-finals and Mexico in the third-place game. Panama have one of the stronger rosters in this competition. Their roster is highlighted by their midfield of Dynamo star Coco Carrasquilla and Nashville’s Anibal Godoy. Expect them to comfortably make it out of this group and even look to win a game in the knockout round.

Projected Lineup

Goalkeeper: Luis Mejia

Left Back: Rodrick Miller

Center Back: Andres Andrade

Center Back: Harold Cummings

Right Back: Michael Murillo

Center Midfield: Coco Carrasquilla

Center Midfield: Anibal Godoy

Center Midfield: Alberto Quintero

Winger: Ismael Diaz

Winger: Cecilio Waterman

Striker: Jose Fajardo

Costa Rica

Three-time champions Costa Rica will look to get back to winning ways in Concacaf, as they have found themselves in a similar position to Panama where they can’t beat the big three teams. After putting on a competitive showing in the World Cup, Costa Rica will have a bit of confidence in themselves for this tournament. They will expect to do better than a first knockout round exit like the last Gold Cup. What used to always be a heavy MLS focused roster has evolved into featuring almost an entire roster of players playing in Costa Rica. There are loads of new faces in this roster who have less than 10 caps or are making their debut. This roster is also missing by far the country’s best-ever player in Keylor Navas. Expect them to make it out of the group and be competitive in the knockouts, but don’t imagine them making much noise in later rounds.

Projected Lineup

Goalkeeper: Kevin Chamorro

Right Back: Carlos Martinez

Center Back: Kendall Waston

Center Back: Juan Pablo Vargas

Center Back: Fransisco Calvo

Left Back: Suhander Zuniga

Center Midfield: Celso Borges

Center Midfield: Roan Wilson

Winger: Warren Madrigal

Winger: Josimar Alcocer

Striker: Joel Campbell

El Salvador

El Salvador are an interesting team in this tournament as they have one of the better coaches, with Hugo Perez, but have a poor roster at his disposal. In the last Gold Cup, they did very well to make it out of their group and fell short in the knockouts to Qatar. This roster is missing star player and former Dynamo midfielder Darwin Ceren. There are loads of players from El Salvador’s league and a hand full of players from MLS and USL. They will look to Seattle Sounders standout Alex Roldan to provide a spark on both sides of the ball. Expect them to struggle in this tournament, having the 3rd strongest roster in their group. They could find a way to make it out of this group, but it is not likely.

Projected Lineup

Goalkeeper: Mario Gonzalez

Right Back: Bryan Tamacas

Center Back: Eriq Zavaleta

Center Back: Erick Cabalceta

Left Back: Alex Roldan

Winger: Joshua Perez

Winger: Kevin Reyes

Center Midfield: Cristian Martinez

Center Midfield: Narciso Orellana

Striker: Cristian Gil

Striker: Jairo Henriquez

Martinique

Martinique is seen as one of the weaker teams in this tournament as they have not made it past the group stage in their last four attempts. In the last Gold Cup, they were drawn in a group with both the United States and Canada. They conceded 12 goals in that competition, which was the most in the tournament, and lost all their games. There is a large French presence on this roster with about half the roster playing in France and the other half playing in Martinique. Expect this to be another disappointing tournament as I don’t see any way they pick up points, let alone make it out of the group.

Projected Lineup

Goalkeeper: Yannis Clamentia

Right Back: Patrick Burner

Center Back: Florent Poulolo

Center Back: Jonathan Rivierez

Center Back: Jean-Claude Michalet

Left Back: Yordan Thimon

Center Midfield: Cyril Mandouki

Center Midfield: Daniel Herelle

Forward: Karl Fabien

Forward: Kevin Fortune

Striker: Brighton Labeau