Mexico midfielder Andres Guardado (#18) celebrates with teammates after kicking a penalty kick to score a goal against Costa Rica. (Photo : Reuters)
Mexico and Panama will face each other once again in the semifinals of the 2015 Gold Cup to be held on Wednesday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. In this match, El Tri will try and avenge their 1-2 semis loss against La Marea Roja in the 2013 edition of this summer CONCACAF tournament.
Sporting a new coach and mostly new players, the Mexicans are one of the favorites to win the cup this year. They placed third behind defending champions United States and Panama two years ago and Miguel Herrera is intending to improve their finish this time around.
La Verde nipped another favorite, Costa Rica, in the quarterfinals, 1-0, as reported by The Guardian. Left winger Andrés Guardado made a controversial penalty kick during the final minute of stoppage time in extra time to book his team a ticket in the semifinals against Panama, who earlier defeated Trinidad and Tobago via a shootout.
After finishing extra time tied at 1-1, Hernán Darío Gómez's men figured in a shootout with the Soca Warriors. The Canaleros barely escaped the penalties, 6-5, as LA Galaxy goalie Jaime Penedo stopped winger Lester Peltier's shot, as per the MLS website.
Prediction: Tough to call, but it would either be a 1-0 win by Panama in regulation time or a victory by Mexico if it goes through a shootout. El Tri is not playing at their best so far in the tournament while the Panamanians are impressive, especially after the draw against Team USA in the group classifications.
Mexico starting lineup (5-3-2 formation): Ochoa; Layún, Corona, Rodríguez, Reyes, Aguilar; Guardado, dos Santos, Herrera; Vela, Peralta
Panama starting lineup (3-5-2 formation): Penedo; Cummings, Torres, Davis; Pimentel, Gómez, Cooper, Camargo, Quintero; Tejada, Pérez
