Mexico thrashed Cuba 5-0 in their second match of the Gold Cup but the match was overshadowed by news that the Mexican Federation had suspended five players for failing a pre-tournament drug test.
Star goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was missing from the side that had beaten El Salvador in the opening match of the competition as was defender Francisco Rodriguez.
The Mexican federation carried out drug tests on all of their squad members on May 21 but it seems that they only acted on the results yesterday leaving their hopes of retaining the Gold Cup seriously weakened.
As well as Ochoa and Rodriguez, three other players-Edgar Duenas, Christian Bermudez and Antonio ‘Sinha’ Naelson- have been suspended.
The Mexican federation said the substance detected was the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol, which Decio De Maria, general secretary of the Mexican soccer federation, said the players ingested by eating contaminated food.
“Everything points to it being an accident, very unfortunate,” De Maria told the Associated Press in Mexico City.
A Mexican federation official said it has not been determined how long the players will be suspended, although they face bans of up to two years, depending on what the Mexican federation finds in its investigation.
A special CONCACAF meeting has been scheduled for today to discuss the suspensions and the possibility that Mexico will be allowed to replace the suspended players on its 23-man Gold Cup roster.
On the park Mexico seemed unaffected as Efrain Juarez’s side notched up their second 5-0 win of the competition.
Javier ‘Chicacita’ Hernandez and Giovani dos Santos both scored twice as Mexico hammered Cuba 5-0 to become the first team to reach the quarter-finals. Substitute Aldo De Nigris scored the fifth and final goal.
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