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The bi-annually CONCACAF competition of the Gold Cup is now upon us, and the 2017 edition will be kicking off with a match between French Guiana and Canada on Friday, July 7th. Canada have brought a lot of youngsters to showcase in this tournament, but they will be missing their most promising one, Cyle Larin, at least for the Group Stage. French Guiana were very promising in the Caribbean Cup, and they will be coming into this tournament looking to cause some upsets.
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Canada are coming into this tournament with a really exciting roster, as it consists of numerous talented youngsters currently employed in the MLS. Montreal Impact's Jackson-Hamel has already scored 5 goals in the MLS, while Toronto's Tosaint Ricketts and Raheem Edwards will be the ones to watch on the midfield, along with 16-year-old speedster Alphonso Davies. However, the big name would be Orlando's Cyle Larin up front, had he not been arrested earlier in June for drink-driving. The incident took place in Orlando, and despite the fact that he has shown regret, there have to be repercussions for his actions. He is now set to miss the group stage, but teams are allowed to make six changes after the group phase, so he will probably be called for the knock-out phase, should Canada proceed. Hopefully his immaturity won't take a toll on his national team's chances to qualify.
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French Guiana will be making their debut in the Gold Cup after a very successful run in the recently concluded Caribbean Cup. They finished the tournament with a 5-2-1 record, grabbing the 3rd spot in the tournament, as they only fell to Jamaica in the penalty shoot-out of the semi-finals. Moreover, they almost qualified for the previous edition of the Gold Cup, but despite their excellent run, they eventually fell by 4-3 on aggregate against Honduras. They are coming into this tournament with 12 players who are competing overseas, lead by the talismanic 37-year-old former Chelsea star Florent Malouda. Head Coach Jair Karam has recently stated that he aspires to reach at least the quarter-finals of the competition. They are not afraid to play an open type of soccer, which results in high scoring matches, that feature goals from both sides.
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