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Thank you for joining us here for this Gold Cup Doubleheader. My name is Afshin Zahraee. Have a great night!

Oribe Peralta has been named the Man of the Match.

90+2': The final whistle blows and Mexico begin their Gold Cup campaign with an absolutely impressive 6-0 shallacking of Cuba.

90': The fourth official Armando Castro has shown two minutes of added time.

89': Oribe Peralta has a couple of close chances thwarted away from desperate and diving Cuban defenders in the box. Well done by them to show this spirit in this kind of a match.

88': Cuba with their first corner of the match. Guillermo Ochoa calmly comes out to catch the ball and lead a counter.

85': Will Mexico score a seventh? They are possessing the ball and being patient in attempting to find pockets to continue their assault on the Cuban defense.

81': The ball ends up in the back of the Cuban net off a Dos Santos header but the ball was ruled to have been out of bounds before Jesus Corona could cross it.

80': SUBSTITUTION! Cuba have made their final substitution. Liban Perez has entered the match for Jorge Corrales.

76': Correction on a call earlier in the 72nd minute. There was an offsides flag. Mexico only have 6...for now.

75': GOOOOAAALLLLL!!! Another long ball beats the Cuban high offside line and Giovani Dos Santos found himself in a one on one situation with the keeper. He wins the battle again for a brace. That's 6 goals for Mexico for those counting at home.

74': After some pinball action in the box, Oribe Peralta blasts a sitter well over the goal.

72': SUBSTITUTION!! It's a double subtitution for MexicoJesus Corona is on for Carlos Vela, who was a menace. Carlos Esquivel comes on for Andres Guardado.

69': Goodness me! We can barely keep up. Carlos Vela absolutely jukes a defender out of his shoes and puts a ball off the inside of the left post. Close to 6 for Mexico.

68': New substituioin Angel Horta heads away another dangerous chance. The header almost led to an own goal. Alas, Cuba get out of the situation.

68': Giovani Dos Santos is played in on a beautiful chip from Carlos Vela. Diosvely Guerra makes his best save of the match in a one on one situation.

67': Cuba have made their second substitution. Angel Horta comes on for Felix Guerra.

65': Mexico continue to pour pressure on a shorthanded Cuba squad. El Tri are doing a wonderful job of pulling defenders in, working the ball out, and sending in dangerous crosses.

62': GOOOOAAALLLL!! Mexico with another one. Oribe Peralta the goal scorer again as a cross from Giovani Dos Santos flutters over the keeper and is not handled by the far defender, who lets Peralta get over him to dink a header into an empty net.

61': Every player with the exception of Guillermo Ochoa is on the left side of the field. Great 1-2 played to Layun and he just misses.

58': Tonight's attendance announced as 54,126. It's been an involved and loud crowd.

57': SUBSTITUTION! Giovani Dos Santos comes on for Jonathan Dos Santos.

57': Ladies and gentlemen, we have a Dos Santos substitution.

56': Cuba fails to clear a ball in the box cleanly and it bounces to Jonathan Dos Santos just outside of the 18 yard box and his shot goes inches wide of the right post.

55': It is Pedro Suarez who comes on for Armando Coroneaux, who is stretchered off the field.

54': Cuba look like they will be forced to make the first substitution of the match as there is a player down at midfield. Pedro Suarez looks ready to come on.

53': After some posession without results from Mexico, Cuba have their most dangerous attack on the counter. A long range shot from Beto Gomez flies high over the net and into the Chicago night.

48': A large whiteer has been thrown on the pitch. Mexico resume possession now in the Cuban half and pick up where they left the first half off.

46': The second half has begun and Cuba have finally made it into Mexico's attacking half.

The teams are taking the pitch as they prepare for the second half.

Mexico possessed the ball for 70% as compared to Cuba's 30%. Mexico had 9 shots on goal compared to Cuba's 1 shot on goal.

Halftime: Mexico 4, Cuba 0.

45': The ref blows the whistle almost immediately when the clock hit the 45 minute mark out of mercy for Cuba.

44': GOOOAAAALLLL!! Mexico have four and this time it's Andres Guardado getting on the end of a cheeky chip. He beats the high offsides line set by Cuba and Diosvely Guerra has no chance. It's 4-0 Mexico as this match is beginning to get out of hand.

43': A through ball from Hector Herrera finds Oribe Peralta in a one on one situation with the keeper. A heavy touch allows Diosvely Guerra to close on the ball and stop it.

42': Mexico continues to demolish Cuba wide. Another dangerous cross finds the head of Oribe Peralta, whose hat trick seeking header hits the left post.

41': Guillermo Ochoa picks up the ball for the first time in the match and the crowd gives a somewhat sarcastic cheer.

37': GOOOAAALLLLLL!! Make that three for Mexico. Hector Herrera plays a nice ball into the box that is dummied smartly by a Mexican forward and it goes right to Oribe Peralta who makes no mistake and buries his second goal of the game.

35': Mexico has another great chance in front of goal that is deflected out for a corner. Mexico was hoping for a PK as Vela went to ground. Referee Walter Quesada was uninterested.

34': Paul Aguilar sends a perfect ball to Oribe Peralta, who loses control of the ball at the worst moment of a one on one with the keeper. Peralta should have done better.

33': Mexico threatening again as Andres Guardado lines one up from 30 yards straight away from goal and it flutters over the bar.

29': This game is starting to look like a training exercise for Mexico as Cuba seems to clear every ball right back to the Mexican goal. The center backs might as well be taking naps.

28': Mexico seems to be working the wings and Layun once again sends a dangerous ball in that nicks off of Oribe Peralta's head and just wide.

25': A dangerous cross is put in by Miguel Layun which finds Hector Herrera, who directs his header just over the goal.

23': GOOOAAALLL!!! Another Mexican barrage leads to a goal. After the Cuban defenders were unsure of how to handle a bouncing ball in the box, Carlos Vela bodied his defender off the ball and fired a left foot shot by Diosvely Guerra. Mexico making quick work of Cuba here, up 2-0.

21': A series of pinpoint passes from Mexico leads to a chance for Jonathan Dos Santos, who airmails the ball well over the net.

20': After some rare possession from Cuba, Mexico back on the counter attack.

17': GOOOAAALLLL! After a mad scramble in the box, a series of Mexican chances finally leads to the ball in the back of the net. Carlos Vela's effort was stopped on the line by a defender. The rebound went to Andres Guardado, whose shot was also stopped by a defender. After the ball bounced off Guardado's head, Oribe Peralta was there to finish. What chaos!!

15': Beautiful 1-2 play between Carlos Vela and Jonathan Dos Santos, whose weak shot rolled softly to Diosvely Guerra for an easy save.

14': CLOSE!! The ball is crossed in by Paul Aguilar and Yasniel Napoles nearly heads it into his own goal as it drills the underside of the post and stays out!

13': Carlos Vela is released into the box, beats a defender, but pokes the ball right at Diosvely Guerra for another save.

10': The ball was sent in to a dangerous area, but Cuban keeper Diosvely Guerra commandingly comes off his line and punches the ball away.

10': Hector Herrera is fouled by Jorge Clavelo setting up a dangerous set piece for Mexico about 35 yards out.

8': Carlos Vela sends a ball across the box that Hector Herrera fluffs well over goal from about 8 yards in front of the goal. The ball wasn't completely settled.

7': MISS!! Another long range shot from Miguel Layun sails well wide right of the goal. Mexico not afraid to take chances from long range as the Cubans are defending deep.

5': CLOSE!! Andres Guardado sends a cheeky chip to Carlos Vela, whose nice touch gets the ball slightly past the keeper before he collides into Diosvely Guerra and a Cuban defender clears the line.

3': Mexico continue to boss the ball in the midfield and a long range strike from about 30 yards from captain Andres Guardado flutters over the goal.

2': Carlos Vela lays a ball across to Miguel Layun, whose low shot from just outside the box is eaten up by keeper Diosvely Guerra.

1': Mexico gets us started at kickoff here. Correction from earlier, they are wearing black tops with black shorts. Cuba has come out in all white.

The fans have started the wave. Plenty of electricity here in the air in Chicago. Teams are about to make their way out for anthems.

Soldier Field is nearly full at 50,000 fans, most wearing green as the ground crew does final preparations for this much anticipated match of the night.

Here is the starting eleven for Cuba: (4-1-3-2) D.Guerra; Dranguet, Napoles, Clavelo, Lopez; Marquez; Gomez, F.Guerra , Corrales; Martinez, Coroneaux.

Here is the starting eleven for Mexico: (4-4-2) Ochoa; Aguilar, Rodriguez, Reyes, Layun; Herrera, Dos Santos, Vazquez, Guardado (c); Vela, Peralta.

Cuba are met by a sea of boos as they come out with blue warm up shirts and white shorts. Their squad is considerably small as they have 6 absences due to flight complications.

Mexico have taken the field to large cheers to a large Mexican contingent that have gathered at Soldier Field. They will be wearing green tops with black shorts.

Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 8:30 Central to see these two nations clash in their Gold Cup openers as Mexico look for an emphatic start to the tournament, while Cuba look to keep the result respectable.

We have only had one winner from the tournament’s four matches played so far. This match will produce the second one as Mexico is just too powerful for Cuba. Don’t expect to see a surprising result like we did between Haiti and Panama. Cuba does not have the speed in their attack to challenge Mexico on the counterattack. Expect them to play with massive defensive numbers while looking to clog shooting lanes.

The Cubans will need Ariel Martinez, a quick and technical player, to relish on either the wing or the playmaker role. Alain Cervantes will also need an extremely strong showing for Cuba to pick up points and pull off a shock. Cuba's best finish in the tournament was reaching the quarterfinals in 2013, so a surprise is not completely out of the question.

All of the problems getting players into the country will make it even more important for defenders Jorge Luis Clavelo, Hanier Dranguet, and Yenier Marquez to play perfect soccer. They will have their hands full tonight with Mexico.

There is also the story of forward Keiler Garcia, who defected from the team after practice on Wednesday. Defections, such as this case, have scared the Cuban Federation from sending their best players at times. Defector and arguably the country's best player, Osvaldo Alonso also will not be a part of the team since he doesn't ply his trade on the Caribbean island anymore.

Head Coach Raul Gonzalez and players Sandy SanchezAndy BaqueroArichel HernandezMaykel ReyesDaniel Luis Saez and a team doctor still have not arrived in the United States ahead of their opening tilt in the group. With no head coach and a depleted squad, the Cubans will have their hands more than full against the strongest team in Group C.

Cuba come into the match very poorly prepared as there have been no friendlies against notable nations as a lead in for what the Lions of the Caribbean are about to face.

Cuba also drew their past two matches but it lead to a disappointing exit from CONCACAF World Cup qualifying at the hands of Curacao. Additionally, a 4-1 loss to NASL side New York Cosmos is not a good sign for a team looking to make its mark in this competition.

El Tri comes into tonight’s match with just one win in their last nine matches. Though most of the matches were from the B squad as they prepped for and played in the 2015 Copa America. They earned two points from their group stage matches with draws against Bolivia and Chile as well as a 2-1 defeat to Ecuador which kept them out of the knockout round.

Mexico drew in their two warm up friendlies against fellow World Cup qualifiers Honduras and Costa Rica by 0-0 and 2-2 score lines respectively.

Mexico will be missing key players in Hector Moreno and world-class center forward Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez to injury. This will make it important for former Arsenal player Carlos Vela to step it up on the front line as he is capable of scoring from almost any situation with the form he's in. Additionally, Hector Herrera is a workhorse in the midfield and will be key to the balance of the side, especially after they get through the cake walk of Group C.

Head Coach Miguel Herrera outlined the importance of the Gold Cup to the nation and federation. "Losing the last (Gold Cup) tournament obliges us to win this one," Herrera said. "What Mexico and the (federation) directors want is to go to the Confederations (Cup), hence the obligation to win this one."

El Tri were disappointingly eliminated by Panama in the semifinals of the 2013 Gold Cup. The side is looking at this potential Gold Cup run as redemption for that showing and want to propel themselves into a playoff against the United States for a Confederations Cup spot. That will only be possible with a Gold Cup championship. 

Even though the Mexicans are hampered by injuries, the pressure is ramped up on Head Coach Miguel Herrera to bring a seventh Gold Cup after the side came up short in 2013. Meanwhile, Cuba face issues of defection and travel as their Head Coach, Raul Gonzalez, has still not arrived to the United States.

Good evening and welcome to VAVEL USA’s live coverage of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Our match tonight comes to you from Group C as Mexico squares off with Guatemala live from Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. My name is Afshin Zahraee and I will be your host for tonight’s action

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About the author
Afshin Zahraee
Afshin is a Civil Engineering PhD and teaches classes as he is an professor. He is extremely passionate about sports and is a huge Chicago Fire and Arsenal fan since soccer is his favorite. He also is a Blackhawks, Bulls, Bears and Chicago baseball fan.