The last time the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial soccer championship for North America, Central America and Caribbean, was played in San Diego was 2000. Canada won.

That’s right. Canada, which ranked 80th in the world at the time. Canada, which had to win a coin flip to escape group play (the opposing coach called heads, and it was tails). Canada, which started a forward from a team in England’s third division and another who had been cut by a team in England’s third division. Canada, the only team not named Mexico or the United States to hoist the trophy.

South Korea, Colombia and Peru were guest entrants in the 12-team field that year, and Colombia and Peru ended up playing a semifinal at an underwater Qualcomm Stadium before an announced crowd of 3,402 that was probably closer to 1,402. The United States and Mexico both exited in the quarterfinals, the latter losing 2-1 to Canada at the Q in what still ranks among the biggest upsets in Gold Cup history.

There are no guest entrants when the 14th edition of the tournament returns to Qualcomm Stadium with a doubleheader Sunday (Curacao vs. Jamaica at 4 p.m., Mexico vs. El Salvador at 6), no torrential rain is in the forecast and the crowd figures to be considerably larger than the Colombia-Peru mud bog. But the potential for weird stuff to happen is no less likely.


This is the Gold Cup, after all.

The Goofy Cup.

Technically, it is soccer’s continental championship just like they have in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. But that’s pretty much where the similarities end.

Those tournaments rotate between hosts, and they use a blind draw to assign teams to groups and brackets. The Gold Cup has always been held in the United States, where ticket prices are highest, and teams are “placed” into geographically convenient pools to maximize that revenue along with the chances of the U.S. and Mexico reaching the final. And to save expenses, opposing teams sometimes are crammed into the same charter airplanes (“We were all squeezed in, we didn’t even have room for our luggage,” Mexico coach Miguel Herrera said during the 2015 tournament.)


Who’s getting all this money? Many of the same folks who were implicated in the FBI’s sweeping corruption investigation of FIFA that was fueled by CONCACAF’s longtime secretary general ratting out himself and everyone else.

The perception of impropriety reached its zenith two years ago, when a lackluster Mexico team – the biggest draw at the gate – reached the final only after a series of phantom penalty kicks awarded suspiciously late in games. Mexico’s Andres Guardado, who buried the 89th-minute penalty against Panama that sent their semifinal to extra time (where Mexico got another PK and won), admitted he considered missing on purpose, he felt so bad for the Panamanians.

Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez called it “a stain on soccer.”

The players posed for a picture in the locker room with a handmade banner that said: “CONCACAF ladrones.” CONCACAF thieves. Written beneath that three times was “Corruptos.”


Pedro Chaluja, the president of Panama’s soccer federation, went a step further and said what everyone was thinking: “We perceive that this match was manipulated, and not by the Mexican federation, but there are interested third parties. The bad refereeing decisions were deliberate and with the intention of protecting third parties … and ended up robbing the victory and the dreams of all Panamanians.”

The 2015 tournament also featured a visa snafu that meant a half-dozen players weren’t available for Cuba’s opening game against the United States, followed by the obligatory political defections. Jamaica’s players boycotted a practice over bonuses, then reached the final after upsetting the United States in the semifinals.

Mexico beat the Reggae Boyz before 68,930 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadephia, which set up a showdown with the United States – the 2013 Gold Cup champion – in a winner-take-all playoff three months later for the region’s lone spot in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. That game drew 93,723 at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl – another CONCACAF payday.

Dodgy whistles aside, the predictability of the 2017 event has been muted by the rosters that render this closer to a Silver or Bronze Cup.


With its A team playing in the FIFA Confederations Cup earlier this summer, Mexico brought the JVs to the Gold Cup. Only four field players have more than 10 caps, and probably the biggest name, Chivas forward Alan Pulido, is out after breaking his arm Saturday against Paraguay in El Tri’s final tune-up.

The United States brought closer to a B+ team, minus folks like Christian Pulisic, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey in hopes of giving less experienced players one last look before the 2018 World Cup. While El Tri has no starters from the June 12 World Cup qualifier against its northern rival, the Yanks have four: goalkeeper Brad Guzan, defender Omar Gonzalez, and midfielders Paul Arriola and Kellyn Acosta.

Arguably the region’s best player, Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas, is missing as well, purportedly with Achilles tendonitis, although you might be able to catch him at the Los Angeles Coliseum on July 26 with Real Madrid when it plays Manchester City in the Intercontinental Champions Cup – an informal series of U.S. exhibitions featuring many of Europe’s top clubs that runs concurrently to the Gold Cup, in some cases in the same cities in the same week.

The most accomplished player in the tournament is from … French Guiana: 37-year-old midfielder Florent Malouda, who was born in the tiny French overseas “department” that is not recognized by FIFA but is by CONCACAF (allowing him to play in the Gold Cup). Malouda spent six productive seasons with English power Chelsea and logged 80 caps for France, including the 2006 World Cup final.


Help could be on the way, though. This is the Gold Cup, remember, and another of its funky rules is that teams can swap out up to six players after the group stage as long as they are listed on the 40-man provisional rosters submitted last month – potentially changing the complexion of the tournament at its midpoint.

That means Mexico could add A teamers like Oribe Peralta, Jurgen Damm and Rafa Marquez, and the United States could add Bradley, Altidore and Dempsey.

The tournament opens Friday night at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., where French Guiana faces Canada, which is currently tied for 109th in the FIFA world rankings with Jordan and Equatorial Guinea.

No chance? It’s the Gold Cup. Crazier things have happened.


CONCACAF GOLD CUP

What: Biennial championship for men’s national soccer teams in the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and Caribbean).

When: Friday through July 26.

Where: 14 venues across the United States, including Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. The semifinals are July 22 (Arlington, Texas) and July 23 (Rose Bowl). The final is at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara.

Format: The 12 teams are divided into three first-round groups. The top two teams in each advance to the quarterfinals, plus the two best third-place finishers. From there, it is a straight knockout bracket.


Groups: Group A: Canada, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Honduras. Group B: Martinique, Nicaragua, Panama, USA. Group C: Curacao, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico.

TV: Fox (English) and Univision (Spanish) in the US, Televisa and TV Azteca in Mexico.

Qualcomm doubleheader: Sunday at 4 p.m. (Curacao vs. Jamaica) and 6 p.m. (Mexico vs. El Salvador).

Local ties: U.S. midfielders Joe Corona and Paul Arriola both grew up in the South Bay and currently play for the Tijuana Xolos.


2015: Mexico beat Jamaica 3-1 in the final. The United States finished fourth after losing 2-1 to Jamaica in the semifinals and in a penalty shootout to Panama in the third-place game.

History: Mexico has won seven all-time Gold Cups, the US five and Canada one.


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mark.zeigler@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @sdutzeigler

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