The Mexican National Team came into this year's CONCACAF Gold Cup with the thought of redemption and revenge on their minds. The 2013 Gold Cup left a sour taste in El Tri's mouth and boy did they come ready to play in their opener of the 2015 edition of the Gold Cup. Cuba was no match for them in a 6-0 shallacking.

Mexico starts strong

From the start, Mexico set camp in the Cuban side of the field and shifted the ball around very nicely. The great movement and patience almost paid off in the 14th minute, when Paul Aguilar's cross met the head of Yasniel Napoles. In the Cuban's attempt to clear the ball out of play with his head, he nearly put the ball into his own net. The ball hit the underside of the bar and caressed the line before bouncing out.

Cuba wasn't so lucky three minutes later when, after a mad scramble in the box, a series of Mexican chances finally lead 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 another diving defender. After the ball bounced out and was played back in by the head of Guardado, Oribe Peralta was there to finish.

The lead grows

Things got worse for Cuba in the 23rd minute when Mexico doubled their lead. Another Mexican barrage lead to chaos in the box and an eventual El Tri goal. After the Cuban defenders were unsure of how to handle a bouncing ball in the box, Vela bodied his defender off the ball and fired a left foot shot past Diosvely Guerra.

In the 37th minute, Mexico added a third goal. Hector Herrera played a nice ball into the box that was dummied smartly by a Mexican forward leaving Peralta in 1v1 with the keeper. Peralta made no mistake and buried his second goal of the game.

Mexico added a fourth just before the halftime whistle. This time it was Guardado getting on the end of a cheeky chip. He beat the high offsides line set by Cuba, and keeper Diosvely Guerra had no chance.

The possesion numbers were lobsited 70-30 in favor of Mexico, while they had an advantage of shots on goal of nine to one.

Things stay the same after halftime

Not much changed after the teams came out for the second half. It was much of the same as there were moments when the Mexican center backs could likely have taken naps seeing as how all players except for Guillermo Ochoa were on the Cuban side of the pitch.

Mexico made it five in the 62nd minute. Peralta was the goal scorer again, completing his hat trick, as a cross from Giovani Dos Santos fluttered over the keeper. Peralta simply then outjumped his defender to dink a header into an empty net.

Finally the barrage of Mexican goals ended in the 75th minute. Another long ball beat the Cuban high offside line and Giovani Dos Santos found himself in a one on one situation with the keeper. He won the battle against Guerra.

It's difficult to gauge anything from this match as Cuba were decimated by lack of a bench and were missing some of their "would-be" starters. Six players did not get their visas cleared and one defected after practice earlier in the week. That, along with their coach arriving on the day of the match led to major issues for Cuba.

The team lacked complete shape and organization, which could be accredited to lack of preparation. At times, Cuba's formation looked like a giant circle with someone in the middle chasing the ball. Additionally, they continued to try a high offside trap despite continually getting burned over the top. It seemed that manager Walter Rosales could not make the proper adjustments.

Meanwhile, Mexico showed their prowess and potential for the tournament. The team was very disciplined positionally, and at times showed different formations. They started in a 4-4-2 and switched to a 3-5-2 when Cuba seemingly had figured out the previous formation.

The ability of El Tri to change fluidly without skipping a beat will be important for them in this tournament. Despite missing Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, the forwards looked extremely threatening. Carlos Vela's all around play and Giovani Dos Santos' menacing runs after he came on will cause defenses trouble.

Both teams travel to Glendale for their second match of the Group Stage on Sunday. Cuba will face off against Trinidad and Tobago, while Mexico will clash against Guatemala.