Uriel Antuna shines as Mexico trounce Cuba in Gold Cup
Mexico made easy work of Cuba as Uriel Antuna scored a hat-trick in his official debut for El Tri in the Gold Cup.
Uriel Antuna scored three of Mexico’s seven goals as the side managed by Tata Martino got their Gold Cup campaign off to a strong start.
Antuna netted his first of three goals in the second minute. By the time the whistle blew for half-time, Antuna already had a brace and Mexico had a commanding 4-goal lead over Cuba.
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The hat-trick for the LA Galaxy player came late in the second half to cap off a dream performance for the national team.
He was not even supposed to be in the team, to begin with. After Jorge Sanchez was dropped after an injury prior to the start of the tournament, Antuna was made his replacement.
His performance did not go unnoticed by Tata Martino but he urged the player, and the press, to be calm and not to let the performance go to his head.
According to Goal, Martino said,
"“Look, sincerely, the first thing I’d tell him is, ‘Don’t listen too much. Don’t get on social media too much. Don’t watch too many programs.’ Because it surely won’t be us who misplace the kid. We’ll always have words for him that have to do with calm, both in a poor showing and a superlative showing. For someone who recently started, it’s nothing more and nothing less than a good night.”"
It can be quite easy for a performance like that to go to a player’s head and Martino stressed that it was simply a good night. One also has to consider the competition but scoring three goals in a game is always a good thing. It does not look like Antuna will let his hat-trick go to his head.
"“I am very happy I was able to score but the team played a great game, so I am very happy to be here,” Antuna said postgame."
In addition to scoring, Antuna also provided an assist to Chivas’ Alexis Vega who scored the sixth goal in the 74th minute. He could have easily taken the shot himself but he showed selflessness in opting to deliver a pass instead.
With players such as Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez, ‘Chucky’ Lozano, Hector Herrera, Miguel Layun, and Jesus Corona missing either through choice or injury, Mexico will have the opportunity to rely on different players and see what they bring to the table. Antuna got his chance against Cuba and took full advantage of it.
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Mexico now face their toughest opponent next time as they take on Canada. The expectation for Mexico is to, at the very least, make the final. With new faces stepping up, they have a good chance of winning the whole thing.