• by Angel Soto, writing from Rancho Cucamonga, Cali

As the second day of CONCACAF Gold Cup 2011 comes to a close, it is time for the men in Red, White and Blue to begin their chase for their regional glory. The last time we saw Bob Bradley’s squad, it was as if we were watching a horror film, as the US played a undermanned starting 11 against a relatively weak Spain squad. There is definitely room for improvement, as Canada, Panama and Guadeloupe is nowhere near as talented as the Spain B team. It may also be encouraging that stars like Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and Carlos Bocanegra will be starting instead of Sacha Kjlestan, Robbie Rogers and Tim Ream. The US team is a very questionable but strong squad entering this edition of the Gold Cup, the striker position is still very much in question, as Jozy Altidore continues to struggle, Juan Agudelo continues to grow. Agudelo is not the only new blood being brought in by Coach Bradley, he brings in Eric Lichaj, Alejandro Bedoya, Jermaine Jones, and Tim Ream as well. The US faces a complicated and deep group this year with the likes of Canada, Panama and Guadeloupe.

Canada has always been one of the underachieving teams of CONCACAF and come to try to prove that they belong in the same conversations as Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica and the United States as the elite teams of the region. Canada will be a very tough opponent for the US but the United States should be able to handle their neighbors from up north.

Panama is a team that has given the US Men’s National team a few grey hairs in recent history, taking them to a PK shootout in the 2005 final, and giving them a bit of scare late in 2007. Blas Perez is a very highly touted striker for the Panamanians and should be giving Carlos Bocanegra and company something to think about.

Guadeloupe is the Cinderella team not only within the group but perhaps even the whole tournament, they showed well in 2007, going all the way to the Semi-final as they were defeated by a great Pavel Pardo strike as Mexico triumphed. They are not a very well known team, not only in the world but even within the region, they seem to have a great gathering of team speed, but their organization is questionable.

The US are favorites to make it to the final to face their biggest rivals Mexico in the Rose Bowl, both teams stock up well in overall talent, and young talent. But there will be hurdles for both squads to get there as the region mid-tier teams love to spoil their recent dominant rivals.

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