A summer of spectacular football continues folks! With Euro 2020 well on the way and the Copa America in full flow, we have another tournament on the horizon when the 16th CONCACAF Gold Cup — to be hosted in the United States — kicks off on 10th July.
It concludes on August 1st and will this will be the first time that VAR has been used at the tournament.
So if you’ve been following Brazil and Argentina’s impressive progress in the Copa America or have just woken up to discover favourites France have been dumped out of the Euros by Switzerland, it’s time to refocus as Mexico aims to retain its Gold Cup title and win a record ninth.
Jonathan Dos Santos smashed in the 73rd minute winner in a 1-0 victory over the United States as El Tri dominated Gregg Berhalter’s team to lift the trophy in 2019.
The two CONCACAF rivals will be among the favourites again and both have talented players in their squads to call upon. Let’s take a look at four stars who will be well worth watching when the tournament gets underway.
Hirving Lozano: Mexico
Mexico are the most successful nation in Gold Cup history, winning eight tournaments and ahead of the United States on six and Canada who won their only title in 2000.
And this season, El Tri will be spearheaded by Napoli’s 25-year-old striker Hirving Lozano, who has already scored 14 goals in 46 appearances for his nation, many of them from the bench.
His club narrowly missed out on a Champions League place, finishing fifth after a final day loss. With 11 goals and three assists and a shot accuracy of 54-per cent, Lozano was one of the Napoli’s standout players.
The pre-tournament CONCACAF 2021 betting odds will attract a lot of support for Mexico to make it nine tournament wins And if they do, then Lozano will most likely have made a big impact.
Alphonso Davies: Canada
Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies has been on an incredible journey from his birthplace in a refugee camp in Ghana to the home of the most successful club in Germany.
He and his family moved to Canada when he was just five years old. And by the age of 15, Davies was playing professional football.
Davies made his Canada debut a year later which made him the youngest player in the nation’s history. And when he scored twice in Canada’s 2017 Gold Cup match against French Guiana, he became the youngest scorer in Canadian history – attracting the attention of a host of European clubs including FC Bayern.
As a left wing-back, he has made 58 appearances for the Bundesliga champions scoring five goals. With nine goals in 23 internationals and still only 20 years of age, he has a stellar future ahead of him in European and world football.
Leon Bailey: Jamaica
Another star of the Bundesliga, Leon Bailey is sure to feature brightly in the CONCACAF 2021 highlights after another impressive season for Bayer Leverkusen.
Here at SBOTOP, we’ve been tracking the 23 year-old’s progress closely and he’s certainly stepped up again in 2020/21 following the departure to Chelsea of Kai Havertz.
He joined Leverkusen from Genk in a 20-M Euros move in 2017 when there was also interest from Manchester United and he has become a key player for Die Werkself.
Last season, the winger bagged nine goals as the club’s second top scorer alongside Patrik Schick who is making headlines at Euro 2020, scoring four goals in as many games for the Czech Republic and is behind only Cristiano Ronaldo in the chase for the Golden Boot.
Bailey also made eight assists in the Bundesliga and is well-known to be one of the best crossers in German football, pinging 131 balls into the opponents’ penalty area and providing an endless supply of ammunition for the forwards.
A non-stop runner, Bailey will take some catching at the Gold Cup.
Cameron Carter-Vickers: USA
US head coach Berhalter is resting a few of his forward players at the Gold Cup, notably Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna who have domestic pre-seasons looming. But he is calling on a promising young defender who plies his trade in the English League.
Carter-Vickers could be one of the emerging stars of the CONCACAF Gold Cup after the 23-year-old Spurs defender impressed on loan at Bournemouth in the 2020/21 Championship season.
His club is in a state of flux at the moment, desperately seeking a new manager after Jose Mourinho was sacked back in April.
He’s a ball playing centre-back with a good range of accurate passing and Carter-Vickers will hope to catch the eye of the incoming boss at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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