Concacaf

Although CONCACAF remains officially silent, details have begun to leak out about this summer's Gold Cup soccer tournament. The U.S. is expected to be placed in a group with Belize, Costa Rica and Cuba. The Americans, who lost the 2011 Gold Cup final to Mexico at the Rose Bowl, will play its first game with Belize in Portland, Ore., on July 9, then meet Cuba in Salt Lake four days later before closing group play against Costa Rica in Hartford, Conn. Group A will include Canada, Martinique, defending champion Mexico and Panama and will open the tournament at the Rose Bowl on July 7 with Canada meeting Martinique and Mexico facing Panama.

If P.T. Barnum were alive today, it's doubtful he'd be promoting soccer in Los Angeles but he might be working for CONCACAF. One circus, after all, is as good as another--only the clowns are different. A jaundiced view, true, but it stems from the fact that at the very moment the city's professional soccer team, the Galaxy, is on an unplanned lull in its schedule, a tournament of very recent and extremely dubious heritage is being played in its backyard.

Champions in 1991. Runners-up in 1993. Third place in 1996? It's hardly progress, but that's the best scenario awaiting the United States as it prepares to play Guatemala in the CONCACAF Gold Cup today at the Coliseum. For the first time in three Gold Cup tournaments, the American team will be merely the curtain-raiser, providing some light entertainment at 2 p.m. before the championship match two hours later between the tournament's two unbeaten teams, Brazil and Mexico.

The problem with being a first-rate soccer power in a third-rate soccer confederation is that whatever triumphs are achieved can never be truly enjoyed. So it was on Sunday when the United States defeated Panama on penalty kicks at Giants Stadium to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the third time. Once Mexico was unexpectedly knocked out of the tournament in the quarterfinals, the fizz went out of the whole event. The 12-nation championship had been built around a U.S.

Honduras' national soccer team came into the CONCACAF Gold Cup as a lightly regarded also-ran. After all, the team lost to Costa Rica in qualifying for this tournament and, compared to the soccer powerhouses in the region, Honduras simply didn't figure. What an error it has been to underestimate Honduras. By virtue of its stunning 2-0 victory over Costa Rica Friday night at the Coliseum, Honduras earned the right to play for the championship Sunday.

Argentina took its worst defeat in World Cup qualifying play when it wilted, 6-1, against host Bolivia at high-altitude La Paz. The result eclipsed the 5-0 loss against Colombia in 1993 and ruined the early promise shown under Coach Diego Maradona, who had earned three victories in three games with no goals allowed since he took over last November. Maradona said he wanted to tell Argentines "that I suffered with them, every Bolivia goal was a stab to the heart."

The United States men's soccer team, which is riding a seven-match unbeaten streak, will meet El Salvador today at Foxboro, Mass., in the second match of semifinal round CONCACAF qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. The U.S. holds an all-time record advantage of 10-1-4 against El Salvador, including 2-0-2 in World Cup qualifying play. U.S. Coach Bruce Arena is going for his 50th win since taking over in 1998 and the U.

Jamaica continued the upset theme late Friday night, the Reggae Boyz beating Guatemala, 4-3, despite a hat trick by former Galaxy striker Carlos Ruiz. After South Africa had upended Mexico, Jamaica jumped to a 2-0 lead against Guatemala before the CONCACAF Gold Cup Group C match was six minutes old on goals by Luton Shelton (third minute) and Ricardo Fuller (fifth minute) before what remained of an announced sellout crowd of 27,000 at the Home Depot Center.

Jack Warner, the suspended vice president of FIFA, had warned over the weekend that "a tsunami" was about to strike international soccer's governing body. On Monday, that storm hit with a vengeance as Warner accused FIFA of operating "a kangaroo court" and released an email in which Jerome Valcke, FIFA's general secretary, stated that Qatar had "bought" the 2022 World Cup. Qatar, which finished ahead of the U.S. in the Dec. 2 vote to stage the quadrennial tournament, immediately objected and said it would consider legal action.