Weekend Bootroom: Tainted Love Edition

The CONCACAF Gold Cup is heating up as much as a tournament featuring Guadeloupe can. But the powers that be will not be happy that the matches themselves are being overshadowed by controversy in the region.

With several Caribbean federations caught up in the FIFA bribery scandal and five members of the Mexican national team sent home for alleged doping, CONCACAF’s flagship event could really use some action on the pitch to put the focus back on football.

Better tainted love than tainted beef

Will Canada v. Guadeloupe do the trick?

Probably not.

The USMNT is back in action again tonight though, taking on Panama down in Tampa.

USMNT stars Steve Cherundolo and Tim Howard threw in their very diplomatic two cents when asked about El Tri’s suspicious “food poisoning” with the defender reacting to the notion that Mexico should face penalties in the tournament for having fielded ultimately ineligible players:

“Until anything is proven and decided, I think it’s best for us just to remain calm and focus on ourselves. It is so difficult to comment on anything that just shows up in the media. Until the governing bodies, CONCACAF and ultimately, FIFA take a decision on this. It really doesn’t bother us too much. We’re not going to be spending our time or efforts thinking about it.”

Translation: We know that nothing is going to be done about this.

Just how much did CONCACAF nations contribute to a tainted World Cup selection process?

Could tainted food really be to blame for El Tri’s shame? (Even the Mexican government says no)

Is the Gold Cup now a tainted tournament?

How many more times will I write ‘taint’?

Enjoy this weekend’s matches and join us in the comment section to find out.

Saturday’s Matches:

12:00 – Iceland v. Belarus (UEFA European U-21 Championship) – ESPN3
2:45 – Denmark v. Switzerland (Euro U-21) – ESPN3
4:00 – Philadelphia Union v. Real Salt Lake – Direct Kick
4:00 – Paraguay v. Romania (friendly) – ESPN3, ESPND
5:30 – São Paulo v. Grêmio – GolTV
5:30 – Rochester Rhinos v. Harrisburg City Islanders (USL) – FSC
6:00 – Canada v. Guadeloupe (CONCACAF Gold Cup) – Galavision, Univision
7:30 – DC United v. San Jose Earthquakes – Direct Kick
8:00 – USA v. Panama (CONCACAF Gold Cup) – FSC, Univision
8:30 – Houston Dyname v. Chivas USA – Direct Kick
10:30 – Seattle Souders FC v. Vancouver Whitecaps – FSC
10:30 – Portland Timbers v. Colorado Rapids – Galavision
10:30 – Los Angeles Galaxy v. Toronto FC – Direct Kick

Sunday’s Matches:

12:00 – Czech Republic v. Ukraine (Euro U-21) – ESPN3, ESPND
2:35 – Spain v. England (Euro U-21) – ESPN3, ESPND
4:00 – Columbus Crew v. Chicago Fire – Direct Kick
6:00 – El Salvador v. Cuba (CONCACAF Gold Cup) – Galavision, Univision
6:00 – Western New York Flash v. Philadelphia Independence (WPS) – FSC
7:00 – FC Dallas v. Sporting Kansas City – Direct Kick
8:00 – Mexico v. Costa Rica (CONCACAF Gold Cup) – Univision