For the second time in less than two months (and the first time in team history), the U.S. men's soccer team beat Mexico in back-to-back finals. This time, defender Miles Robinson (game-winning goal) was the unlikely offensive hero while the goalkeeper Matt Turner (5 saves, 5th shutout of the tournament) continued to play out of his mind as the USMNT survived 1-0 in extra time at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas-the enormous indoor home of the Raiders. This was the seventh Gold Cup title all-time for the U.S. and their first since 2017 (keep in mind that it happens every other year). They hunkered down and made the most of their limited chances as Mexico possessed the ball by a wide margin (64%-36%) compared to the Americans. This was also the fifth time in six Gold Cup matches this summer where the U.S. has won by a slim 1-0 final score.
Other than Turner-who was rightfully named the Man of the Match after one last superb performance-Robinson was the only other U.S. player to play in every minute of every game in this edition of the Gold Cup. The Arlington, MA native & Syracuse product scored what undoubtedly was the biggest goal of his life very deep (117th minute!) into the second half of extra time. In fact, it was the latest goal that the USMNT had ever scored against Mexico. The winning sequence all started on a set piece as midfielder Kellyn Acosta swung a cross right into the box where Robinson rose the highest to head it in for his third career goal for the Americans-all scored this year.
As he showed time and again in this tournament, Turner doesn't get rattled by much and when he is on his game like he has been for the past few weeks, look out world! By going 6-0 in this tournament, he probably ensured that he is about to get much richer whether that is with the New England Revolution or somewhere else. He has also placed himself firmly in the discussion for who should be the No. 1 USMNT goalkeeper moving forward: either Manchester City's Zach Steffen (who is clearly the odds on favorite) or him seem like the only legitimate options at this point. For what it's worth, nobody's stock on this team improved more than him at the 2021 Gold Cup.
The other aspect of this Gold Cup that I found most fascinating was seeing so many of the less heralded but still promising young U.S. players that will most likely be their future depth in support of their A-team pals from the Nations League title squad. We are exactly a month away from World Cup qualifying getting started up again meaning that birthday boy and U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter will have some tough decisions to make to create that final roster. They meet El Salvador on September 2, followed by September 5 vs. Canada in Nashville and September 8 against Honduras. Before then, these players and coaches deserve to have a well-earned short break before things truly start to get serious in September.
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