Published 6/27/2011 3:22:12 PM by Shane Barrow from soccermogul

Now that the month long 2011 Gold Cup is in the books, just what did we learn about the CONCACAF region.  With the qualifying phase for the 2014 Brazil World Cup just around the corner the Gold Cup gave us trends to watch for in the two year qualifying campaign.

1. Mexico is dynamic -
That is just a fact.  Mexico is young, talented and dynamic and should be favorites in the next qualifying phase.  Giovani Dos Santos, Pablo Barrera, Guardado and of course Chicharito strike fear into opposing defenses.  They ripped through the Gold Cup notching a ridiculous 21 goals and tore through an aging American defense like it was butter.

2. The United States defense -
The biggest concern going into the next World Cup phase is the defense for the Americans.  They are aging....ok old in soccer terms and the Gold Cup really did little to find that "new blood".  Eric Lichaj showed promise, but broke down in the Final after having to swap sides suddenly with the Cherundolo injury.  Timmy Chandler showed promise in recent friendlies, but then wasn't called into the Gold Cup due to his club squad's protests.  Gooch, Bocanegra and Cherundolo all overage heading forward.  Tim Ream is young but needs more experience.  Goodson is even upper 20s.  The next generation needs a chance.  Timmy Chandler, Eric Lichaj and Omar Gonzalez all need solid looks this fall in friendlies.

3. The Risers -
There are some clear up and comers in CONCACAF.  Sure the "big dogs" Mexico and USA are going to be hard to unseat over a 10 game World Cup qualifying campaign, but those next two qualifying spots are going to be an absolute dogfight.  Panama showed they are to be reckoned with.  Beating the Americans in group play and putting up a good fight in the semifinals.  Jamaica looks to have their strongest side in over a decade.  They need more seasoning as evidenced by the collapse to the US in the quarterfinals, but clearly a riser.  Honduras and Costa Rica are there and need to be looking over their shoulder at Panama, Canada and Jamaica as much as they are looking upwards at Mexico and the USA.

4. Sorting out the US attack -
The picture is nothing short of muddled here.  Alot of youngsters trying to make their way and earn a look.  Jozy Altidore and Juan Agudelo are tops right now, but both are quite young and lacking consistency.  Freddy Adu has put his name back in the mix and at only 22 could be ready to finally burst onto the national team scene.  Charlie Davies is pushing for another chance coming off his terrible injury.  Then there are the wildcards of Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey.  Donovan always is apt to get some time up there in certain situations and then Dempsey is the closer.  The best finisher we have.  He gets into good spots and is willing to run through a brick wall to score the ball.  Unfortunately the Gold Cup came nowhere close to giving us the answer on who will be the next US striker.

5. The Qualifying Four -
So just who gets those coveted four CONCACAF spots?  Again Mexico looks like a shoo-in.  The United States has depth and talent.  That leaves two spots.  Costa Rica and Honduras are the obvious choices, but there are a slew of potentials.  Jamaica, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala and Canada.  Three of those five will not even make it into the final group of six for CONCACAF qualifying.  Should be a real dogfight come next year when play opens.

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