By Dylan Butler

Giants Stadium has seen the FIFA World Cup, Pele and Franz Beckenbauer and two CONCACAF Gold Cup finals. Its last international match was one to remember - at least for Mexico.

A second-half onslaught sparked by a 56th-minute penalty by Gerardo Torrado led El Tri to a 5-0 victory over the United States before a crowd of 79,156 to cap an unprecedented 10th Gold Cup.

It was Mexico's record fifth confederation title and first since 2003, and El Tri's first win against the Americans outside of Mexico since 1999, ending a 15-game winless streak. The United States also saw its 58-match unbeaten streak against CONCACAF opponents snapped as Mexico's "Golden Generation" re-emerged to deliver on some of its promise.

Giovani dos Santos, who scored two goals including one in the final, was selected the Most Valuable Player, while teammate Miguel Sabah claimed the Golden Boot Award as the tournament's leading scorer with four goals.

Costa Rica's Keilor Navas was chosen as the Gold Cup's best goalkeeper.

Mexico's victory against its bitter rival, which avenged a loss in the 2007 final, capped one of the most memorable Gold Cups in history. A total of 860,046 fans watched 25 matches in a record 13 different venues throughout the United States in one of the best attended Gold Cups.

That included the first-ever sporting event at the new $1.5 billion New Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where a crowd of 85,000 watched Mexico beat Haiti and Costa Rica defeat Guadeloupe in the quarterfinals.

While Mexico's return to glory dominated the discussion, other players and events earned attention during the 23-day tournament.

The United States fell short of winning a second consecutive Gold Cup title, but young talent such as midfielder Stuart Holden and forward Charlie Davies emerged to played significant roles in the squad's sixth straight World Cup berth.

Despite an unsettled political climate at home, Honduras advanced to the Gold Cup semifinals before being eliminated by the United States 2-0 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

"It's very complicated, this topic, it's not easy," Honduras coach Reinaldo Rueda said in Spanish after the loss. "The situation is only one motivation for us. We always wanted to do well in the tournament. The other situation is that everyone is thinking about their family, their parents, their sisters, their brothers so there's some worry there."

The momentum from the Gold Cup carried over to World Cup qualifying, enabling Honduras to earn its first World Cup berth since 1982 and a trip to South Africa.

Canada used the tournament as the beginning of its 2014 World Cup campaign. Utilizing some of the country's best young talent, including 22-year-old midfielders Will Johnson, Marcel de Jong and Simeon Jackson as well as 24-year-old defender Dejan Jakovic, the Canadians were the surprise winners of Group A and advanced to the knockout stage where they fell to Honduras on a disputed penalty kick.

"Overall the guys did a good job throughout the whole tournament," midfielder Julian De Guzman said. "I guess the most important thing we achieved in this tournament is that we feel like a team again."

Interim coach during the Gold Cup, Stephen Hart was elevated to Canada's full-time head coach in early December.

Against the odds, Panama also reached the knockout stage, losing to the United States for a third consecutive time. Coach Gary Stempel said it's a continued improvement from its first UNCAF Nations Cup title in February.

"Panama is obviously growing as a football nation," he said. "We're a well-respected rival in Gold Cup."

Guadeloupe and Haiti also had successful runs, displaying further hope for the future.