The Gold Cup's second Semi-Final takes place on Wednesday evening as tournament surprise package Panama take on CONCACAF giants Mexico at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
As the two teams kick off their Semi-Final match, they will already know who their Final opponents will be if they make it to Sunday's Final in Philadelphia, as the USA vs Jamaica Semi-Final takes place in the same stadium just a few hours earlier.
Mexico will be overwhelming favorites to reach Sunday's showpiece Final, though the Aztecs have yet to reach the highest levels of their play so far throughout the tournament and have relied on individual moments of brilliance and doses of fortune, to make it to Wednesday´s Semi Final.
One player who has truly stood out for Mexico is captain Andres Guardada, whose penalty kick proved to be the winning goal in Mexico's hard fought Quarter- Final victory over Costa Rica.
Speaking after the match Guardada told Univision: "I knew I had to take the responsibility. The group was confident in me. They´re the type of decisions you take in a second and fortunately everything went well."
Mexico boss Herrera will hope Guardada can inspire a Mexico side that is missing key players Yasser Corona, Hetcor Moreno and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, who were all injured before the tournament began. As well as Giovanni Dos Santos, who remains a doubt for the Mexicans after suffering an injury during the tournament.
Herrera had his mind on other things before the game, however, expressing his anger at his side having to share a flight to Atlanta with their opponents Panama, due to severe delays on their initial flight from New Jersey.
Herrera has hit out at the organization of the tournament saying: "What surprises me is that Mexico is the one that gets them [CONCACAF] money, which makes the stadiums full. The whole process has treated us different from the other teams. We've paid a lot."
Panama's journey to the Semi-Finals has been an equally arduous one after overcoming a plucky Trinidad and Tobago in an epic penalty shootout last Sunday at New Jersey's Metlife Stadium.
Panama are yet to win in this year's tournament in regulation time, having drawn their three group stage matches and needing spotkicks to overcome the Trinidadians and will be certain underdogs against the might of the Mexican side. Though the 2013 runners-up will be lifted by their knowledge that at this stage in the previous tournament they were able to spring a shock and upset the Mexicans on their way to the Final.
When: Wednesday July 22nd
Where: Georgia Dome, Atlanta
Kick-Off: 21:00 Eastern Time
Live Stream: FOX Soccer 2Go Univision Deportes (Spanish)
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