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CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - Mexico beat Cuba 5-0. Chicharito scored two more goals. El Tri qualified for the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup.
The hot topic of the night, however, was Meixco's doping suspensions.
"This is an accident," Director of National Teams Hector Iñarittu said. "There is no negligence here. We are very strict with ourselves. We are one of the few federations that conduct these tests before entering a competition.
"We are open here, we are transparent. That's why we are letting you know about this unfortunate news because of ethics and morals."
Inarittu had to answer questions after the Mexican federation suspended Guillermo Ochoa, Francisco Rodriguez, Antonio Naelson "Sinha," Edgar Dueñas and Christian Bermudez.on Thursday for testing positive for a banned substance at a pre-tournament training camp.
Mexico coach Jose Manuel de la Torre, known as "El Chepo," deflected all questions about the subject to Iñarittu and team physician Dr. Jose Luis Serrano.
"I am here to speak about soccer and the match," de la Torre said. "For whatever other situation, the doctor is here and so is the (director)."
The five all tested positive for clenbuterol, a drug used to treat breathing disorders, during the team's Mexico training camp in Mexico prior to the Gold Cup. Mexican officials say they believe the positive tests were caused by eating meat tainted with the drug.
Inarittu assured reporters that the incident was accidental and he guaranteed there was no way the suspended players used any type of supplements that could have triggered a positive test result.
In an attempt to try and prove the suspended player's innocence, Iñarittu said he will fly with those five players to Los Angeles on Friday. They will be submitted for further testing at UCLA.
"We will wait for all the results and see what the department of agriculture in Mexico finds in the meat what we used," Iñarittu said. "We'll expect the results which I am sure it will be negative."
Serrano said it was rare for five players to test positive for clenbutarol. He said the players were not given any other type of supplements during the time it is said the contaminated meat was consumed. Serrano said one player was given antibiotics and something to treat diarrhea, and anti-inflammatory medicine to another to treat some swelling.
"There is no remote absolute possibility that this happened because of a supplement," Serrano said. "I think there is no literature that has five positive tests with only one substance in one event."
Germany's anti-doping agency has issued a warning to its athletes about consuming meat in Mexico because of it being tainted with clenbuterol, sometimes spelled clembuterol, more than in China.
Serrano said it has become very popular to use this substance in meat in Mexico.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency has published reports of clenbuterol use to promote growth in livestock, including cattle, lamb, poultry and swine. Such use is illegal in the United States and Europe.
The USADA said in those reports that the risk of a positive drug test from ingesting meat contaminated by clenbuterol is remote. The USADA website says that over the last 10 years, the USADA has performed more than 75,000 tests worldwide. There has been only one case with a clenbuterol positive result.
It said that the positive test was the result of the use of a contaminated supplement, not from eating contaminated meat.
The USADA has reported only six cases in which athletes have shown their clenbuterol positive test to be from contaminated meat. The athletes in those cases were cleared and were not sanctioned.
Iñarittu said Mexico has talked with its meat distributor, considered to be elite, and it will investigate if this was a case of an isolated piece of meat that was contaminated. He said the federation will do what it can to prevent purchasing more contaminated meat.
In the meantime, Mexico has requested that it be allowed to replace the suspended players.
CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer said a meeting of the confederation's national teams committee, which also serves as the organizing committee of the Gold Cup, will be convened via conference all Friday to consider the situation, including possibly allowing Mexico to replace the five players.
There are also published reports that El Salvador will dispute the results of their match against Mexico, a 5-0 loss, last week in Dallas.
But El Salvador coach Ruben Israel is hoping something can be done.
"We will wait and see what happens with CONCACAF," Israel said after his team tied 1-1 with Costa Rica Thursday. "My federation for sure will do everything it can if this is confirmed.
"It would hurt plenty if something like (doping) happened when we prepared our selves physically and spiritually the best we could. This is a very delicate situation that touches the player's moral and the moral of a national team."
