The Final Four of the 2015 Gold Cup is set and to no surprise, features many familiar faces from the 2013 edition.
In addition to the United States who squares off against Jamaica earlier on Wednesday, Mexico and Panama round out the semifinals in a rematch of their 2013 Gold Cup semifinals match.
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride has nothing on Mexico's journey through the 2015 Gold Cup. The six-time champions of the tournament have been vastly inconsistent thus far. After a 6-0 annihilation of Cuba in their first match, Mexico had back-to-back draws in Group C before sneaking past Costa Rica on a last second, controversial penalty kick.
Perhaps it's the loss of Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez who missed the tournament with a broken collarbone suffered in El Tri's final tune up just days before the Gold Cup started. Giovani dos Santos has also been injured and is expected to miss Wednesday's match with Panama.
Carlos Vela had multiple opportunities to score in the quarterfinals against Costa Rica and if given the same chances, will need to find the back of the net against Panama on Wednesday. If there's a silver lining for Mexico in their match against Costa Rica, it's that they were by far the better team on the pitch, and team captain Andrés Guardado was able to calmly step up and convert the penalty despite the intense pressure.
Mexico made it to the semifinals based on defense, something lacking in their final game of Group play against Trinidad and Tobago. Guillermo Ochoa will once again start in net again as he tries to keep his fourth clean sheet of the tournament.
For the second consecutive Gold Cup, Mexico is the favorite against the Panamanian side. However, fans of El Tri know all too well what being the "favorite" means. Panama ousted Mexico from the tournament the semifinals of 2013, and also early on in Group play.
Mexico will have their supporters in Atlanta in full force and will need to feed off the crowd in order to get an early goal and carry the momentum on through the match.
Panama is the reigning runner ups, and will pose a threat to Mexico in this match. Like Mexico, they too struggled in Group play and did not win their group. Both teams have fallen significantly in the world FIFA rankings, but are riding a wave of confidence after defeating Trinidad and Tobago via penalty kicks in the semifinals.
LA Galaxy star goalkeeper Jaime Penedo will starting in between the pipes as the veteran tries to lead his country to their first ever Gold Cup title. Team captain, Román Torres will lead the team on defense as Blias Pérez and Luis Tejada will roam the front lines trying to penetrate Memo and Mexico's back four.
Prediction: 1-0 Mexico
Betting Favorite: Mexico -1
Over/Under: 2.5 Goals
Mexico and Panama will take the pitch after the finale of the United States and Jamaica match on Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at 9:00 EST from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The game will air live on Fox Sports 2 and can be live streamed here. If you prefer to watch the match on your mobile device you can download the Fox Sports Go app from your app store.
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