Hi all this will be my tournament long thread. Another fun tournament to follow along with for some summer action. Going to give a quick preview of each group with some thoughts.
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Group A:
USA have done well in their recent friendlies, and I think they will view this tournament as a big opportunity for the the team. In that regard, I expect them to take this tournament quite seriously. They do play in a difficult group here with both Honduras and Panama as tough, physical opponents, and I don’t think it will be a cakewalk. For me they are WAY overpriced at +145 to win the tournament, that might be a price you can get them at in the final match alone. Have to watch and see, but Clint Dempsey is playing well, and usually scoring goals is what worries me about this team. Graham Zusi is my player to watch, I think he will be impactful for them. Home field advantage is obviously huge as we are seeing with Chile, so I think the USA have a good chance at making a run in this tournament.
Honduras are probably the dirtiest team in the world. I have seen them time and time again since last world cup rough teams up beyond comprehension, sometimes leading to a red card that destroys the game for them, but other times getting so far into another teams head that they begin to fall apart. I would be careful to wager on them knowing this, but I do think they are the type of team that can win games against strong opponents and then flop to somebody inferior. I am concerned about where the goals will come from for Honduras as I don’t see a really threatening striker on the lineup. Their coach was Costa Rica’s coach at the 2014 world cup, and he obviously took the team on a nice run, so maybe he can organize this team a bit better and figure out a way to win games. They should present a challenge for any opponent.
Panama were extremely unlucky not to make it to the world cup after going out in the final minutes of their qualifying campaign in devastating fashion. They impressed me in a lot of the games I saw during qualifying and I think they have a good chance to make a statement in this tournament. I think this team is not as whole as the US, but have enough pieces and motivation to make it hard for them.
Haiti are definitely outmatched in this group and should really struggle to even win a point. Unfortunately for them, I think they have been placed in the most difficult group, and all of these teams are going to need to get all 3 points from Haiti to be able to advance. They should be pleased to attend the tournament, but are going home after the group stage barring a miracle.
Prediction:
USA 7
Panama 5
Honduras 4
Haiti 0