4 Players To Watch During This Years Gold Cup

The Gold Cup is only a few days away, and México is the big favorite to take home the gold in this year’s tournament. With many major big names out of the 23-man roster these men below are 4 key players we think you should keep an eye on during the competition who might make an eye-catching impact for El Tri.

Raul Jimenez – Wolverhampton

Raul is coming off a fantastic season with Wolverhampton after having broken the single-season record in goals for any Wolverhampton player in a season (13 goals), most goals scored in the Premier League by a Mexican player tied with Chicharito Hernandez, and also signed a long term deal with Wolverhampton until 2023 for a record of $42 million USD.

Now he comes into this Gold Cup no doubt, as to the best player on the final roster, with the likes of players such as Carlos Vela, Chicharito Hernandez, and Irving ‘El Chucky’ Lozano all out of this tournament. He has the tall task of leading this new era of young Mexican players to Gold Cup glory and showcases that his phenomenal season with the Wolves was no fluke and that he can translate his skills on to the international stage as well.

Rodolfo Pizarro – Monterrey

Pizzaro has proved this season he still has much more to offer, and he showed it this season with Monterrey as they were able to win the CONCACAF Champions Tournament. Pizarro was a crucial piece in the midfield for Los Rayados de Monterrey in the tournament and even in the Liga MX making it to the semifinals.

Pizarro is only 25 years old and has had rumored offers from a few European teams during his time with Guadalajara, and he can use the Gold Cup as a catapult to showcase his skills for a few major European scouts. Also, he has the opportunity to become a vital piece of the midfield in Gerardo “Tata” Martino’s squad on route to the Qatar world cup.

Edson Alvarez – Club América

Edson Alvarez has been a critical piece of the backfield for Club America for the past couple of years scoring two goals in their most previous champion matchup against their crosstown rival Cruz Azul. Having been linked to transfer rumors to teams such as PSV, Ajax, Celtic & Wolverhampton, Club America went ahead and resigned Alvarez to a contract until 2022 and has begun asking squads for a rumored 19 million USD to transfer him.

If Alvarez wants to make a move to one of the big leagues in Europe as early as this summer, he could use the Gold Cup as a big stage to convince one of the rumored interested clubs to bet on him and pay Club America the asking price for the young defender.

Carlos Rodriguez – Monterrey

Carlos Rodriguez, if you have not heard that name its time you become more familiar with it as it seems El Tata Martino wants to make him an essential piece of his midfield. The 22-year old Rodriguez was a key piece of Monterrey’s midfield along with Pizarro having led the team to the CONCACAF Championship. After having a short stint in Europe with Spanish 2^nddivision team Toledo, if Rodriguez wants to make his way back to Spain hopefully this time with a 1^stdivision team, this opportunity that El Tata has given him will not be taken for granted.