News Americas, PASADENA, California, Mon. June 27 2011: Mexico’s soccer team has emerged as the winners of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The Mexican side led by manager Jose Manuel de la Torre overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the United States for the title 4-2 in the final.
“I’m going to enjoy the moment, live it, and many moments will come and in the meantime. We just have to enjoy it,” said de la Torre of the win.
Since De la Torre took over, Mexico is unbeaten in its 11 matches — the best start for any Mexico coach.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, Andres Guardado, Pablo Barrera, Giovani dos Santos and Aldo De Nigris earned near universal praise.
Hernandez scored in four of Mexico’s six victories and finished as the leading scorer with seven goals and was selected as the Most Valuable Player for the 2011 Gold Cup.
Hernandez also finished as the Golden Boot winner and captain Rafael Marquez accepted the Fair Play Award on behalf of El Tri.
The United States was one of only two teams to even hold a lead against Mexico in the Gold Cup.
United States goalkeeper Tim Howard also credited Mexico’s young talent for an almost dominant performance in the final.
“They’ve got some special players,” Howard said. “It was tough. We didn’t expect that to happen. They did a good job of passing. You think of Mexico as one-two, touch-touch but they opened us up, they played us over the top and they hit us. Right now it all hurts. It sucks getting your (butt) kicked.”
