US in Group B of the Gold Cup; The Circle is Now Complete

The US have been drawn into Group B of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the circle is now complete (we finally know the American schedule all the way through July). The US will face El Salvador, Guatemala, and Trinidad & Tobago in venues in both Los Angeles and Boston.

While many fans are most excited about the Copa America, the Gold Cup still has plenty of value and importance, and Bob Bradley will most likely send his best squad to the CONCACAF tournament. While the likes of Argentina and Brazil won’t be present, a US win in the Gold Cup would qualify them for the 2009 Confederations Cup held in South Africa – a tournament of unparalleled importance in order to prepare for the real deal in 2010 (same venues, same country, best in the world: basically a practice round for the World Cup).

Additionally, Mexico and the United States could very well meet in the final, something always enjoyable to watch. It’s also of interest to note that this would be the Americans’ 4th Gold Cup win (since the tournament has been called the Gold Cup) thus tying Mexico at 4-4.

Here’s a look at the Group B Schedule:
(click here for a full schedule of all groups)

If I were to bet, I would say three relatively easy wins for the US, however it’s an international tournament and anything can happen.

The US will know their first opponent quite well, as they are scheduled to play a friendly against Guatemala on March 28 (see bottom of this article for the full US schedule).

El Salvador and Trinidad are no strangers either, and this tournament has only CONCACAF participants (no South American country was invited). As such we’ll get to see Guadaloupe make their first Gold Cup appearance this summer.

It’s proving to be quite a tight schedule for the US as they finish up with their friendlies on June 2 in a match against China in San Francisco. As you now already know, they will begin their Gold Cup play five days later on June 7 against Guatemala. Four days after the final (June 24) – and hopefully the Americans make it that far – the US will travel to Venezuela to meet Argentina in the Copa America.