Costa Rica Vs. Cuba, 2011 Gold Cup (Copa Oro) Group A: Lineups And Live Match Thread

Hey there kiddies! Tonight, like all of the other nights of this stage of the competition, the 2011 Gold Cup (Copa Oro) schedule has a doubleheader. Mexico vs. El Salvador is the night cap from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX is the night cap, but here at FMF State Of Mind, we're keeping an eye on the entire Gold Cup. Costa Rica and Cuba play in the first match of the night, and it's worth a watch simply to get a feel for what Mexico will have to face in their next two games.

The biggest story out of tonight's game is that Bryan Ruiz, Costa Rica and FC Twente striker, will not be starting tonight. I can't find any information about whether Ruiz is being rested against seemingly easy competition or if he's actually injured, so if you see that, please pass it along so I can update this space. In any event, Ruiz is arguably the best player in CONCACAF, and any game without him is less entertaining. Here are the lineups, after the jump.

Costa Rica lineup: Navas; Diaz, Oviedo, Mora, Marshall, Acosta, Salvatierra, Borges, Bolaños, Ureña, Saborio

Cuba lineup: Molina; Fernandez, Urgelles, Marquez, Y. Colome, J. Colome, Fransisco, Hernandez, Gomez, Cervantes, Lahera

Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything about Cuba, whose players all play domestically. Costa Rica have played quite a bit in a 4-3-1-2 before, but that lineup has six players who are listed as defenders. My guess is that Dennis Marshall pushes up to left central midfield, while one of the other defenders is actually a defensive midfielder. The man to watch is Celso Borges, an incredible talented attacking midfielder.

The game kicks off at 6 pm ET, 5 pm local time, and can be see at Univision in the United States. We will have full coverage of the Mexico game in a new thread after the Costa Rica-Cuba game concludes.