Oribe Peralta scored a hat-trick to guide Mexico to a thumping 6-0 win over Cuba in their opening match of the CONCACAF Gold Cup this evening.
Miguel Herrera's side should have taken the lead in the second minute when Carlos Vela collected Andres Guardado's cross, but his effort was cleared off the line by Hanier Dranguet.
Mexico did go ahead in the 17th minute when Vela again caused problems in the box, but his shot was cleared off the line, while Guardado had an effort blocked, before Peralta buried his strike into the back of the net.
Vela added his side's second goal of the game as the Cuba defence failed to clear a loose ball in the box, and the forward gathered it and fired his strike past Diosvelis Guerra.
El Tricolor extended their advantage in the 37th minute when Hector Herrera played a through-ball into the box which was dummied by Vela, allowing Peralta to collect and drill his effort past Guerra.
Mexico scored their fourth just before the break when Peralta raided down the right flank and lifted in a cross for Guardado at the back post, who guided a header into the top corner.
In the second half, Herrera's side notched their fifth goal of the evening as Giovani dos Santos lofted the ball into the box and Guerra missed his chance to claim, allowing Peralta to score his hat-trick with a simple header into an empty net.
Mexico thought they had scored a sixth goal when Dos Santos converted Peralta's cross but saw his effort disallowed for offside. However, minutes later the former Tottenham Hotspur man was played through on goal down the inside left channel and buried his effort past Guerra.
Peralta had the chance to add to his tally late in the game when he latched on to a cross into the box, but his close-range drive was well saved by Guerra to save Cuba from further embarrassment.
