Lots of exciting football on tap this week, including exciting midweek international fixtures.
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CONCACAF Gold Cup:
First up we have the semi-finals of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Group A winners Mexico takes on Group B runners-up Honduras while Group C runners-up USA play a rematch against Group C winners Panama.
In the final eight, Mexico recovered from an early concession to beat Guatemala 2-1 while the Americans beat Jamaica 2-0. Panama and Honduras both came through penalties after drawing their quarterfinals 1-1, defeating El Salvador and Costa Rica respectively.
While a USA - Mexico final still looks likey and will please the organizers by reuniting the two best and best supported teams in North America, the chances of Panama cannot be dismissed out of hand.
Honduras have shown that their World Cup 2010 outing was fruitful and are wily customers, but they will not be able to stop the Mexican juggernaut. El Tricolore have been the class of the tournament and complacency will be their biggest foe. Fans will also hope that their team, despite the suspension controversy have not peaked too soon.
Four straight wins and 16 goals scored at a single tournament, are impressive by anyone's standards, but everyone associated with Mexican football knows that the big prize is the Gold Cup itself, with a win over perennial rivals USA, the perfect ending.
In a repeat of their Group C matchup, Panama will likely adopt the same tactics that saw them upset the Americans in their crunch clash. Although USA'a finishing was exceptionally wayward and somewhat lackadaisical, Panama held firm and thwarted the easy victory that many expected.
USA should not repeat its performance in that game and will come out determined to avenge that loss. Expect Clint Dempsey to atone for his shocking miss with a goal and an assist to send the home team through to the final.
Picks:
USA 2 (Altidore, Dempsey) - 0 Panama
Mexico 2 (Hernandez, De Nigris) - 1 Honduras (Costly)
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Euro U-21 Championships:
Across the pond in Denmark the final four of the Euro U-21 championships kick off.
Spain takes on Belarus while Switzerland takes on the Czech Republic.
Spain, who won Group B, are pre-tournament favourites to win it all. They will be looking to ease past a Belarus side that has consistently punched above its weight to get this far. Exopect a close game with Spain either edging it late or on penalties.
Group A winners Switzerland have put down a marker in destroying Group A with a perfect record: three wins from three, six goals scored and are yet to concede. A bit like their senior team but with more firepower up front.
The Czech Republic played well to defeat England in the crunch game in Group B, ensuring they finished second behind Spain while Belarus just edged through Group A even though it thrashed 3-0 by the Swiss in their final Group A game. They were tied with Iceland and Denmark on 5 points each with identical overall goal differences of -2. However, Belarus came through in the 3 way tiebreaker on account of its better goal difference against the other two Nordic nations.
Details are here:
Expect the Swiss to meet Spain in the final.
Both games kick off on Wednesday, June 22. Spain takes on Belarus at 19:00 in Viborg Stadium in Viborg. Switzerland plays the Czechs at 22:00 in Herning Stadium, Herning.
Picks:
Spain 2 (Adrian, Muniain) - 1 Belarus (Varankov)
Switzerland 2 (Mehmedi, Shaqiri) - 0 (Czech Republic)
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Copa Libertadores:
Also, we have the second leg and final match of the 2011 Copa Libertadores. Penarol from Uuruguay travel north to take on Santos in the second leg. The first leg ended 0-0 and Penarol are safe in the knowledge that an away goal was not conceded.
For Santos home comforts mean everything and they will look to turn the screw on their opponents in front of a rabid atmosphere at the Pacembeu. They will hope to win and secure the trophy before returning their focus to the Serie A league title, especially before Neymar and potentially Ganso, are sold to European clubs in the fall.
Real Madrid are the latest club to have thrown their hat in the ring for the mohawk-sporting Peixe star. Ganso, although still injured with a muscle injury will be present in the stands for the game. Chances are the lesser lights will make a difference, especially with Santos captain, defender Edu Dracena returning from suspension.
The game kicks off at 21:50 local time on Wednesday, June 22.
Too close to call but I am rooting for Santos to win.
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