One last stop before Chicago: Mexico vs Haiti Gold Cup semifinal preview
The 2019 Gold Cup for the Mexican National team has had a little bit of everything; drama, joy and nail-biting excitement.
El Tri started off the group stage on a high note after defeating Cuba 7-0 at the Rose Bowl, but after that, things didn’t get any easier. The Mexicans defeated Canada 3-1 in Denver and had to fight off a scrappy Martinique in Charlotte to win the group.
The biggest test thus far came in the last round. Mexico was not expecting to play Costa Rica until the semi-finals, but Haiti upset the Ticos in their last game of the group stage and got the Central American team pinned up against Mexico to set up the most intriguing quarterfinal matchup. The showdown between the two Concacaf powers proved to be as exciting as most had anticipated.
El Tricolor came out on top of the battle versus Costa Rica, but once again, Los Ticos pushed the Mexicans to the edge of the precipice, and Tata Martino’s men barely walked away with a victory after Guillermo Memo Ochoa’s heroic save in the penalty shoot-out which put Mexico in the semifinals.
The victory over Costa Rica came at a cost. After arguing over a handball with the ref, Tata Martino received a yellow card and will not be allowed on the sidelines of the game set to be played in Glendale, Arizona.
The Tata Martino effect
The Tata Martino effect continues to make its presence felt for this Mexican team. Though last game El Tri scored the least amount of goals during Tata’s tenure so far, they still managed to show resilince despite the unfavorable calls by the ref against them and most importantly, they managed to escape with a victory in penalty kicks, which is something most Mexican fans don’t get to see often.
The biggest question now for this Mexican team heading into the game versus Haiti becomes: How will Tata’s absence impact the team? As we mentioned earlier Mexico under Martino has become a very unlike-Mexico offensive power. In their eight games that the Argentine has managed, the team has scored 27 goals, averaging 3.4 per game which is unheard of for El Tri. It’s going to be interesting to see how the team’s tactics are changed from the get-go, but most importantly, how the team will adapt during the game when modifications are needed.
Jorge Theiler, one of Tata’s most trusted assistants will be on the bench, Theiler is someone who is familiar with his system and will try to implement it to the best of his abilities, but still, it’s not the same as having Martino on the sidelines.
Haiti deserves to be respected
Despite the history of dominance that El Tri has had over Haiti at the senior level, the Mexican team should take the Caribbean side lightly. The team from the island of Hispaniola are in the semifinals because of merit. Haiti not only upset Costa Rica but also won their group. Besides, they’re in this semifinal because of their come from behind win over Canada in their quarterfinal match. The Haitians showed poise despite being down two goals, and they were able to take advantage of Canada’s defensive collapses.
Mexico and Haiti don’t play as often as some might assume, these are the last five meetings between the two squads.
- Date Winner Score Competition
- 11/21/79 draw 0-0 Concacaf Championship
- 12/18/73 Mexico 1-0 World Cup Qualifier
- 10/9/77 Mexico 4-1 World Cup Qualifier
- 11/11/81 draw 1-1 World Cup Qualifier
- 7/19/09 Mexico 4-0 Gold Cup
Even though the last time that Mexico played Haiti and beat them 4-0 at Arlington Stadium in the 2009 Gold Cup, El Tri has to be careful of going into the game over-confident. The reality is that the football world is getting smaller and it has become difficult to think of any game as a walk in the park. Just like Mexico defied all expectations in last year’s World Cup game against Germany, the Haitians know that they can beat a giant as well.
