Mexico set to bring veteran/youth mix to Gold Cup; Costa Rica, El Salvador preparing full squads

June 20, 2009

NEW YORK – Mexico will bring a mix of veteran fan favorites with younger recently established regulars, while teams from Costa Rica and El Salvador are planning on a nearly full-strength roster in their bids to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup next month.

All 12 teams have submitted their preliminary rosters, which must be reduced to 23 players no later than 24 hours before their first game.

The Gold Cup opens July 3 with a doubleheader at The Home Depot Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, featuring Canada vs. Jamaica, and Costa Rica vs. El Salvador.

Gerardo Torrado, Omar Bravo and Jonny Magallon will comprise the basis of Mexico’s veteran core of a largely domestic roster with emerging stalwarts Giovani Dos Santos and Carlos Vela, both European based, Memo Ochoa and Omar Arellano bolstering the roster.

Costa Rica, which leads the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying at its midpoint, will bring all but a handful of its regulars in a bid to win a first Gold Cup title. Los Ticos, who reached the final in 2000 before falling to Canada, will have its midfield contingent Celso Borges of Norwegian club Fredrikstad and Saprissa’s Walter Centeno along with strikers Andy Furtado and and Alvaro Saborio up front.

Christian Castillo, Eliseo Quintanilla and Rudis Corrales will lead an El Salvador team, looking to advance past the quarterfinals for the first time.

The United States, coming off the Confederations Cup in South Africa, will bring a mix of foreign and U.S.-based players, from Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan and Xerex striker Jozy Altidore to 2008 Olympians Stuart Holden of the Houston Dynamo and Robbie Rogers of the Columbus Crew.

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