80.180 fans showed up at “Cowboys Stadium” in Arlington, Texas, for the opener of the 2011 Gold Cup. Seeded with El Salvador, Cuba, Costa Rico in Group A, Mexico (five-time and defending champions) had little problems in winning their opener against El Salvador.
Mexico’s manager, Jose Manuel de la Torre opted for an explosive attack playing both Chicharito and Gio Dos Santos up front. El Salvador managed to contain El Tri in the first half and could have scored in the first 6 minutes, but Mexico’s keeper Ochoa made a brilliant save.
De la Torre’s men erupted after the break, scoring 5 goals, much to the joy of Mexico’s fans. Chicharito scored his first in the 60th minute, thanks to Andres Guardado cross’s. 7 minutes later, Guardado was again the provider, as his long pass was converted by United’s wonderkid. Chicharito completed his hat-trick in injury time, converting the penalty which he won. He cheekily chipped the ball into the net.
Despite his impressive form, Chicharito refused to take credit and praised his teammates for making it all possible, as he confessed to a reporter:
“The most important thing for me is the three points, I don’t care if I score, sometimes I won’t — the main thing is we won,”
Dubbed as the star of the show before the opener, due to his impressive form with United, Guadalajara’s son is considered the main candidate for the tournament’s Golden Boot. Having already scored 3, it seems that the trophy has the wonderkid’s name written on it. Aided by both Dos Santos and Guardado, I can only wonder how many goals can he score in this tournament.
Mexico will now face Cuba on Thursday. Anyone for another Chicharito hat-trick? Below, a video of Mexico’s goals scored against El Salvador:
