No surprises as the group stage of the 2019 Gold Cup comes to a close. The attention was on Group C with the top two nations in this tournament drawn together. Both sides knew whoever dropped points in their match would be matched up against the third best nation in the CONCACAF in the quarterfinal round, Costa Rica. The Costa Ricans, who were in for a tough match in the quarters regardless who they played, learned it will be the host nation, the U.S., who they are paired with. The winner of that match will be the favorites to face Mexico in the Finals.
An exciting match for the natural. A nervy encounter for Costa Rican and American fans. When all said and done the result is all that matters, but if you ask any U.S. fan they would say the 11 on the pitch were lucky to get away with the win after their poor performance. Costa Rica came out on the front foot in this one forcing Horvath into some tough saves early. Los Ticos did deserving find the back of the net first after a class free kick finish by former Fulham attacking midfielder Bryan Ruiz. He hit a curler over wall and into the top right corner from about 25-30 yards out. The U.S. came out flat again in the second half until there able to level the scoring. Kellyn Acosta's free kick was hit into the six yard box and team captain Michael Bradley was able to get his head to it a slit second before the on rushing Keylor Navas was able to get to it and the ball looped into the empty net. You have to question the Real Madrid keeper there. The Americans picked up the intensity from that point as they begin to play higher up the pitch. And just before the final whistle Darlington Nagbe broke Costa Rican hearts. Lots of credit must go to DeAndre Yedlin who made a nice run down the right skipping past one defender before putting a peach of a cross to the back post. Darlington rose above his marker and into the net the ball went.
The U.S. will be up against Canada and Mexico face Manchester City's $90M man Leon Bailey and Jamaica. The latter will be a fun match for any viewer. The quarterfinals ended just as most would have predicted. The Reggie Boyz proved to be way too much for Honduras. The strike partner of Deshone Brown and Watford's Jerome Sinclair scored four between the two of them. Canada held off Panama to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2007. Mexico knock off Trinidad and now have a chance at revenge against Jamaica who knocked them out during the semifinals two years ago.
After a gritty win in the quarterfinals, the U.S. left little doubt in this one. Not much to recap here as it was dominated by the hosts from the word 'go'. Michael Bradley scored his 21st and 22nd goals of his U.S. career. The first was a low hard shot through traffic that crept into the right corner. He later bagged his second from the penalty spot. Kellyn Acosta showed why Chelsea are showing instead in the center mid. He scored two of his own. Both came from the same spot just outside the box. And both were equally impressive. With the first, Canada backed off the Colorado Rapids man and he just blasted one into the top right corner from 20 yards. His second was a first touch rip into the corner of the net. John Brooks scored his first goal for the U.S. since 2015. The big center back is always a threat on set piece and he proved why today.
For the second Gold Cup in arrow Jamaica top Mexico to reach the finals as we have a rematch of what we saw in 2017. Two years ago we saw the U.S. left the trophy after an 88th minute winner by Jordan Morris.
Jamaica get their revenge after a heart breaking loss two years ago. There is no doubt they earned it after knocking out Mexico and the U.S.
Both side looked hesitant to push forward in the first half, however, it was the United States who got off the mark first. It was a simple long ball over the top to Bobby Wood who controlled it and was through on net. With an onrushing keeper, Woods tried to play the ball around Andre Blake who dove into the striker completely missing the ball. The referee had no choice but to point to the spot and Woods converted. It wasn't until the final minute of added time when the Reggie Boyz found the equalizer in heroic fashion. Jamaica claimed the trophy on penalties after the U.S. were only able to finish one of the four they took. Congratulations to Wes Morgan who announced before the tournament that he would retire after it's conclusions. He won the Premier League in magical fashion with Leicester and wins the Gold Cup with his final career football match.
View attachment 24408 June was all about the Gold Cup. Going in the U.S. and Mexico were the favorites and it was the underdogs Jamaica who knocked out both. The Reggie Boyz became the second nation outside of the U.S. and Mexico to actually win this tournament to put their win into perspective.
Looking at it strictly from a U.S. standpoint the loss in the final will be disappointing, however, they did play well overall. Kellyn Acosta stood out for the Yanks. He's been slowly introduced into the squad over the last few years and that should change after this tournament. Their star man Weston McKennie went the other direction. There's no doubt he's the main man in the middle, but he didn't offer much against Costa Rica or Jamaica. Also in the middle of the park, Michael Bradley proved he has plenty left in the tank. If he continues to have success with Toronto in the MLS even at 31-years old, it's hard to see him losing his starting spot for the U.S. Matt Besler, who is also on the wrong side of 30, put in a strong preference throughout the tournament. We've seen both Cameron Carter-Vickers and Matt Miazga get minutes under tbuc, but Besler could since prove to be the best option at the back next to John Brooks.
July is a month filled with transfer speculation in Europe and with a handful of American prospects playing abroad I figured I'd join in the fun. One top American prospect in the defense, Chris Richards, is looking to take his talents to either England or Germany. Richards came up through the FC Dallas ranks before spending this past season on loan at Bayern Munich. The center back made 34 appearances with the second team before making one appearance for the senior team at the end of the season. Championship side Huddersfield have already offered a contract to the 19-year old, but he's holding out for a move back to the Bundesliga with Berlin showing interest. Matt Miazga has been a regular in the U.S. squad, but his chance to play in the Premier League for Chelsea will have wait. He spend last season on loan in Ligue 1 with Nantes making 35 starts, but his displace in France wasn't enough for his parent club. Three top clubs in smaller European leagues do have interest, however, Basel, Kyiv, and Olympiakos have all placed loan bids for the center back and all offer a chance for Miazga to play in either the Champions League or Europa League which is exciting.
The last two Gold Cup winners will face off in a one game playoff for a chance to play in the 2021 Confederations Cup leading up to the next World Cup. With France winning the 2018 World Cup we know they will be taking part. Mexico represented the CONCACAF in 2017 and reached the semifinals before be knocked out by the champions Germany. The U.S. last took part in this tournament in 2009 and had success. The Americans defeated Spain 2-0 in the semi's before losing to Brazil 3-2 in the finals after the U.S. were up 2-0 at halftime.
Here is a look at what the U.S. have scheduled for the rest of the year. The U.S. shouldn't need much motivating for these fixtures. Although it's only a friendly, the U.S. will want to get revenge against Trinidad after the Soca Warriors defeated the Americans in World Cup qualifying back in 2017 officially ended in their dreams of heading to Russia. The U.S. also face Jamaica three times between now and the end of the calendar year. Two times in the Nations League and once in a Confederations Cup playoff. The Reggie Boyz just beat the Americans last months in the Gold Cup Final forcing the two sides into a playoff to reach the 2021 Confederations Cup. That match will take place in August 18th.
Veterans Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, and Matt Besler return from the Gold Cup roster, and we also see Danny Williams and Brad Guzan called in for the first time since 2018. The 23 brought in for the next three matches are a bit older in age compared to what we're used to from tbuc. We see only one teenage in Josh Sargent and just seven players under the age of 24. Tim Parker steps in to replace an injured John Brooks. Brooks has played in 13 matches under tbuc. Only one player has played in more matches for the U.S. in that time. tbuc has said Tyler Adams is being brought in this time as a right back. We could've possibly seen Keegan Rosenberry, but he's out injured. Rosenberry missed seven weeks earlier in the year with a lower back stress fracture and is expected to be out roughly a month with an abdominal strain. After recording his first cap, Reggie Cannon has fallen down the pecking order. He is now a free agent and still looking for a club. In the midfield Kellyn Acosta is also injured after breaking his leg in the Gold Cup Final. He's expected to be out another 2-4 months. Another injured player who has been a regular call up is Timmy Weah. The PSG reserve player will be out for 2-4 weeks. In his place is Sebastian Lletget. The winger scored in his last game he played in a U.S. shirt.
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Horvath will miss the first two matches of this slate. That means Zack Steffen will get his chance to prove his worth once again. He has six caps, but has not played for the U.S. since October 2018.
View attachment 24013 Jonathan Amon doesn't lose his place in the team after all. Lletget dislocated his should in training leading up to the Trinidad match and is expected to miss anywhere from 3 weeks to 2 months. If needed, the LAFC winger could be fit in time for the November matches. An even bigger blow is the loss of Michael Bradley. The captan broke his leg while playing for his club team right before he was supposed to jump on a plane to join his international team. He will be out until 2020. Coming in for Bradley is a new name in Juan Pablo Torres. Torres brings a bit of flexibility for tbuc as the Georgia born attackers natural position is as a number ten. Could tbuc finally be able to run his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation? The 20-year old has spend the last three seasons in the Belgium Pro League breaking into the first team at Lokeren last year bagging nine goals. He was part of the U20 team which won the 2019 World Cup.
We may have only won 1-0 and lost to possession battle, but Trinidad were hardly threatening (only 2 highlights of shots). On top of that, we have several changes to expand our lead in the second 45 as well. Bobby Wood had a header which left the keeper planted to his spot, but it was off the bar. Pulisic had his chance when he was though on goal in the second half, but a rare heavy touch saw the keeper gather. Danny Williams also had a great chance as well from inside the box, but put it wide. All in all, this match was nothing more than to allow us guys to get match fit for Jamaica.
A much better result this time a out against Jamaica. The first half was pretty stale, but we get our break through from a beautiful free kick from Emerson Hyndman. The midfielder stepped up from roughly 25 yards out and blasted it into the top right corner. Just two minutes later Hyndman setup for another free kick, this time a little too far out for a shot. He put in a ball to the far post which Matt Besler headed across goal and Bobby Wood tapped it in to double the U.S. lead. The second half may not have seen any goals, but offered a handful of great chances. Zack Steffan came up with one world class save on another set pieces. Leon Bailey stepped up from just outside the box and hit one headed for the bottom right corner, but the Columbus keeper got down quickly to push it wide. Bobby Wood had a few good chances as well. The first was a long ball over the top which he failed to control. Wood and Pulisic both worked some magic with there feet creating some room in the box for themselves, but other efforts ended up in the keepers arms.
Another strong display by the U.S. In fairness to the Reggie Boyz, they were the better team in the first half, but didn't have anything to show for it. Dwight Gayle had a great chance in the opening seconds with a header which was saved by Steffen. Jamaica did get their goal in the 22nd minute. Leon Bailey made a great sliding tackle knocking the ball away from Antonee Robinson. The Man City winger jumped up and began the break up field. He dribbled into the box and played a perfect cross to his teammate, but DeAndre Yeldin made a wonderful lunging block. The ball rolled right to Daniel Johnson who finished it with Steffen recovering after driving to the ground anticipating the initial shot. The U.S. did level the scoring before the half. It was another central midfielder who put the U.S. on the board. It started with a U.S. corner which was headed out right to Russell Canouse who hit it on the volley and into the net.
The second half was all USA as they added two more goals. They came out much more attacking and it paid off. The first goal came from an over hit cross, which Pulisic was able to control. He put in a wonderful low cross which Weston McKennie redirected on net from inside the six yard box. However, he hit it right at Andre Blake. The rebound bounced to Darlington Nagbe who bagged his fourth international goal. Bobby Wood put the game to bed in the final 20 minutes. Hyndman put in a corner and Wood just out jumped his marker and striker headed it into the net.
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The squad for the Olympic qualifiers sees a handful first team names with Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah and Cameron Carter-Vickers to name a few. Juan Pablo Torres, who just made his U.S. senior team debut, should be the starting number ten for tbuc as well. The keepers named to this squad shows the lack of depth the U.S. have in net. Jonathan Klinsmann, who was raised in California continues to turn down a chance to play for tbuc, as he holds out hope for a call from the German national team. Instead Koln II keeper Brady Scott will be the likely number one. JT Marcinkowski is the only one of the three who have played first team minutes as he made two starts in the MLS last season. Lastly, Nicolas Hansen is arguably the American's top prospect between the sticks, and after switching his allegiance to Brazil for a short time, the U.S. would like to cap tie him soon.
At the back we see first team full backs Tyler Adams and Antonee Robinson. 17-year old George Bello gets his chance to show why Newcastle and Tottenham are interested in him. In fairness to the Georgia native, he has made 10 MLS starts this season. Former Liverpool youngster Brooks Lennon is back in the international team picture after return home and establishing himself in the MLS. He can play anywhere on the right side of the pitch although tbuc has said he was brought in as a right back. In the middle U.S. fans will know all about Carter-Vickers who has six caps (11 in total) for tbuc at the senior team level. We see two MLS guys in Justen Glad and Mark McKenzie as well as Erik Palmer-Brown. Palmer-Brown left the U.S. for Manchester City and has spent the last two years on loan.
In the middle we see two central midfields and two attacking midfielders (not sure how I missed picking a fifth). Sitting deeper will be Weston McKennie and Keaton Parks. Parks is a prospect who could be on the verge of breaking into the first team. However, it's been tough with all the depth the U.S. have at that position. Park had his breakout season last year making 14 starts for Benfica. Sitting behind the striker, tbuc will have two option in Juan Pablo Torres and Hanwalla Bwana. After coming up through the youth ranking in Seattle, Bwana has finally broken into the first team with the Sounders making 17 starts this season scoring two goal while assisting on five others.
The front three sees familiar names in Pulisic, Weah, and Jonathan Amon on the wings and Josh Sargent up front. Haji Wright, who scored five goals in eight appearances for Schalke last year, is now on loan in the 2. Bundesliga as he searches for regular minutes. Also playing up front is the well traveled Emmanuel Sabbi. He was born in Italy, but moved to the U.S. at a young age before leaving the states for Las Palmas of Spain. After one season there, he signed a pro contract with Danish side, Hobro where he's been getting regular minutes for three seasons now. The final name in the squad is Orrin McKinze Gaines. The Texas-born winger left the Wolfsburg youth ranks for 2. Bundesliga side Darmstadt three years ago and broke in their first team last year scoring ten goals in 30 starts.
We see a somewhat depleted U.S. team called in for these two matches as they will be played at the same time as the Olympic qualifiers take place. The only place the U.S. are thin at is in the middle of the parks. Weston McKennie is with the U23's and Michael Bradley, Kellyn Acosta, Danny Williams, and Cristian Roldan are all out injured. We don't see any new names in net or at the back. Eric Lichaj returns for the first time since he made five appearance in 2018. Shaq Moore is back in the team after making the Gold Cup roster. In the middle of the park we also see Russell Canouse back in after a strong display at the Gold Cup. The now established international, Emerson Hyndman, is back as well. Being stuck on the bench at Bournemouth hasn't hurt his stock. The versatile Darlington Nagbe will be used in the middle because of the lack of options for tbuc. Also, some old but familiar names in the squad are Wil Trapp and Joe Corona. Trapp continues to be one of the best midfielder in the MLS year after year, so seeing him in the team isn't much of a let off. You can say the same for Joe Corona as he continues to get first team minutes in Liga MX in Mexico.
Aron Johansson returns up front after missing some time through injury. His start to the season in Serie A hasn't been the best, but none the less, he is a strong option in the striker's role. By default Jozy Altidore and Bobby Wood are in the team as well. On the flanks Kenny Saief will play on the left. He missed out on the Gold Cup because of two major injuries. Also on the left is the return of Julian Green. His name was on the tip of every U.S. fan's tongue after become the youngest American ever to score in a World Cup back in 2014. It's hard to believed that was five years ago. A brand new name is Derby County winger Duane Holmes who is eligible to play for either the U.S. or England. The 24-year old had his best season three years again while playing for Scunthrope in League One. Last year he joined Derby making 21 appearances in the Championship.
We got through the group stage with no problem. With the matches played days apart everyone in the squad had a chance to prove their worth. Jonathan Amon was the standout performer scoring three goals from his left inside forward position. 17-year old George Bello started one match and picked up the Man of the Match award as he consistently pushed forward from his left back position and was rewarded with an assisted in our 1-0 win against Honduras. One other thing to mention were the performances of Juan Pablo Torres and Handwalla Bwana. tbuc has said he would like to switch from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 formation once he has the talent to do so. Torres and Bwana allowed the U23 team to play the preferred 4-2-3-1 and Torres proved he was really to be given another chance with the senior team with two assists and a goal in his two starts. However, Bwana showed very little in his one opportunity.
View attachment 23483 Another walk in the park against Guyana as this is the second time we faced them his calendar year. The U.S. put six past the South American side as it was one way traffic from the opening whistle. The vast majority of the U.S. goals have come from midfielders since tbuc has taken over as head coach, so it was encouraging to see the striker Bobby Wood score two as well as three goals from three different wingers. Crazy enough, Julian Green, who scored his goal at the 2014 World Cup with his first touch of the tournament, scored his goal with his first touch once again today. He's really struggled early in career to get any first team minutes, but did have a breakout season in 2. Bundesliga last year. If he continues to impress, Green could finally become a regular in the U.S. senior team.
A disappointing result for the U.S. as we give up a goal in the final 10 minutes. We had plenty of chances to go up 2-0 throughout the match, but couldn't find the second goal. Nagbe had a chance from inside the box, but left it wide. Besler had a free header on a corner from just a couple yards out, but he put it over and Johannsson saw a shot hit off the goalie's arm when he one-on-one with the keeper. To make matters worse, I'd have to say South Africa's goal was a soft one. It starter with a short corner to the edge of the box. Tau received the pass, took three touches toward the end line, and took a shot beating Steffen at his near post.
The U.S. will get together one more time in 2019 to face Jamaica and Guyana in their final two games of Round 2 of the Nations League. The Americans sit atop of the table with a games in hand. All we really need is three points against Guyana to advance to the quarterfinals. That shouldn't be a problem as we've beat them 4-0 in the Gold Cup and 6-1 in our first match of the Nations League this year.