for he's a jolly good vela

This afternoon was the Gold Cup final, and once again the USA played Mexico. Unlike two years ago though, this one sucked. 5-0 to Mexico, with all of the goals coming in the second half, and each goal being scored by a different player. Okay, so it was only the Gold Cup, and we were fielding what was basically a C team full of MLS players. But still, El Tri's recent World Cup qualifiers have been very substandard. Did they really have to choose this game to start playing well again?

The American fan in me is annoyed, slightly embarrassed, and a little worried as to how this will affect the World Cup qualifier at the Azteca in two weeks. The Arsenal fan in me is pretty damn excited, because let's face it, the second half was totally the Carlos Vela show. He only scored one of the goals but he set up several others. He was subbed on for Medina at the start of the second half and immediately invigorated the whole team. Here's hoping he can do the same for the Gunners this season. Who needs Adebayor? We've got Theo's Mexican Twin.

first win for captain fabulous: a story in pictures

1-0 to the Arsenal! So it wasn't especially pretty, but it was a win. El Capitan looked quite dashing with his new yellow band:



But of course, he wasn't the only one on the pitch. We also had Robin van Persie, doing what he does best:

Carlos Vela, a.k.a. Theo's Mexican twin:

Baby Jack Wilshere:

Aaron "Jailbait" Ramsey:
And, of course, the goalscorer. The pink-shod and half-naked Niklas Bendtner: