El Salvador and Curacao are going to have a lot on their minds going into their match on Thursday night in Denver. Both teams have been stranded without a point from their opening match, and there's a good chance the loser of this one is going to effectively see their Gold Cup dreams come to an end. There's a lot on the line here for sure for two teams who know all about each other from their recent friendly fixture played in March.
At 8 p.m. ET, tune into FOX Sports 1 for live television coverage of this Gold Cup match on Thursday, July 13, 2017, at Sports Authority Field.
Odds Analysis
These two teams played against each other in March in a friendly match in Willemstad, and they played out to a 1-1 draw. This was really quite a close encounter throughout and a deserving result for both sides, albeit in a match with no consequences whatsoever.
Here, we suspect El Salvador will have the slight nod from the oddsmakers even though neither one is going to be a lock to get three points by any stretch of the imagination.
How They Got Here
Curacao was probably a bit of a tough luck loser against Jamaica in its first match of the Gold Cup. The Caribbean side was the better of the two teams for the second time in just a few months against Jamaica, though there wasn't a payoff at the end of it all as there was in the Caribbean Cup final, a match Curacao won 2-1.
Here in the Gold Cup, Curacao was knocked off 2-0 in spite of the fact that it had the greater number of tremendous chances over the course of the match. Andre Blake was on his game in the Jamaican net, though, and that ended any hope Curacao had of picking up points.
It's worth remembering, though, that Elson Hooi, Rangelo Janga, Jarchinio Antonio and Gevaro Nepomuceno were all relatively threatening in that opening match of this tournament for Curacao, and we'd be stunned if at least one of these men doesn't get on the board in this match at some point.
El Salvador was trashed 3-1 by Mexico in the final match of the first round of fixtures in the Gold Cup. La Selecta did muster a goal from Nelson Bonilla in the 10th minute to level after Hedgardo Marin scored the opener for Mexico, but there was never a moment in the match when you really thought El Salvador had a reasonable chance for points. Mexico was on the board 19 minutes later and doubled the lead early in the second half, only to run it out from there.
Granted, this Mexico side is awfully good, even in a younger form. There are a slew of hungry players who are hoping to prove they're good enough to try to get to the team for the 2018 World Cup. Thus, it shouldn't be all that surprising that El Salvador was constantly on the back foot and barely had a third of the possession in the match.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
For our money, this is going to be the toughest match to handicap in the entire first round of the Gold Cup. These two teams are on relatively level terms with one another, and we can't help but wonder if that will play out in the form of another draw. El Salvador lost keeper Benji Villalobos to injury in the match against Mexico, and we can't help but wonder if that's not going to be a key factor in this one. Derby Carrillo wasn't tested much in the last quarter hour of the match thanks to the fact that Mexico was so far ahead, but he will be pressed to stay flawless against Curacao.
Still, we don't see a winner emerging. Neither of these teams have really shown enough to make us believe they have a tremendous chance of snaring three points. The draw might end up effectively seeing both out of this tournament when push comes to shove.
Gold Cup Odds: El Salvador 1, Curacao 1
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