What Should Have Been A Great Night For The USMNT Is Overshadowed By More Silly Drama

 

    On the surface, tonight was a fabulous result for the U.S. men's soccer team as they thrashed their biggest rival Mexico 3-0 in the CONCACAF Nations League Semifinals on Thursday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The Americans extended their unbeaten streak vs. the Mexicans to six games (4-0-2). United States captain and midfielder Christian Pulisic scored twice, striker Ricardo Pepi added the other goal as a substitute and goalkeeper Matt Turner only had to make one save as the U.S. dominated Mexico to reach the Final on Sunday night (9, Paramount Plus & Univision) against Canada who earlier had blanked Panama 2-0. Unfortunately, the match will be remembered as much for its ugliness on the field (13 combined cards including two guys that received reds on each side) as well as off (anti-gay chants from idiot Mexican fans who also pelted the field with trash) which forced the referees to end it early in stoppage time when everything became too much to handle. Oh and a bombshell came out during the proceedings that after six-plus months of searching for a head coach, the U.S. men's soccer team is going to reappoint Gregg Berhalter in charge. You have got to be kidding me!

    The whole bizarre situation left U.S. legend Clint Dempsey stunned at halftime, wondering why they had wasted so much time simply to go back to where they started with Berhalter. Indeed, since they were badly outclassed 3-1 vs. Netherlands in the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup on December 3, the U.S. men's national team has been beset by drama involving Berhalter and the Reynas. It felt like a no-brainer to get someone from the outside to bring some fresh ideas and a new perspective to a group that on paper is far more talented than any team that they have ever had in their history. As recently as earlier this week, we heard that former Arsenal and French star Patrick Vieira (who coached at Crystal Palace in the Premier League and NYCFC in MLS) was interested in the job. I cannot say that he is an outstanding coach from what we've seen early in that side of his career but at least he is a big name in soccer and a non-American who has played and coached at the highest level. Nope, instead we are going back to a guy that is best suited to be a coach in MLS or Mexico (there was a rumor earlier this week that Berhalter turned down a coaching opportunity with Club America). Ugh. I guess we should have seen this coming though since the breadcrumbs were there for a Berhalter return with some of the USMNT's best players like Pulisic and midfielder Timothy Weah publicly pledging their support to him lately which seemed odd at the time. 

    Back to the game which was all about Pulisic. In the first half, he had a wonderful chance as he dribbled around Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa only to put the not that difficult shot over the net. Christian was stunned as he lay on the ground for an extended period of time in disbelief. Thankfully, he shook that off as he pounced on a loose ball in the Mexican box and finished a pretty left footed shot in the 37th minute for a 1-0 U.S. lead. Less than two minutes into the second half it was 2-0 U.S. (Dos A Cero!) as Pulisic buried a perfect cross from Weah. Striker Folarin Balogun's much-anticipated debut for the USMNT could have ended on an ugly note as Mexico's goon defender Cesar Montes chopped him down in the 69th minute with a brutal trip that rightfully resulted in a red card. Sadly, American midfielder Weston McKennie got drawn into the scrum and ended up with a red card of his own a few moments later. Balogun survived and the U.S. extended the beating as Pepi entered in the 75th minute and scored the final goal three minutes later after a pinpoint feed from defender Sergino Dest (who received a red card of his own in the 85th minute).

    It has a long way to go to match the intensity or history of U.S. vs. Mexico but I will submit my prediction that over the next few years, the U.S. vs. Canada should become much more of a rivalry since the Canadians are better than they have ever been with legitimate stars like striker Jonathan David (Lyon with Weah) and midfielder Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)-who scored both of their goals vs. Panama-who compete at top European clubs. Conversely, Mexico is in shambles (which I almost feel badly about, well not really) with few stars left on its roster these days. It sounds like Berhalter will be re-introduced (oh joy) on Friday but at least Sunday night should be fun as the U.S. men go for another CONCACAF Nations League title. It is a bummer than McKennie and Dest will miss the match because of those stupid red cards but that will give other guys like Balogun and midfielder Gio Reyna (sporting his fresh new Eminem-esque blonde hair)-who didn't do much against Mexico-a chance to really shine on Father's Day evening in Vegas along with Pulisic.

Eight Years Later, The U.S. Men's National Team Return To The World Cup With A 1-1 Tie Vs. Wales

 

    So much has changed since the last time that the U.S. men's national team was in its last World Cup (2014 in Brazil). This afternoon, an almost completely new squad (defender DeAndre Yedlin is the only holdover from that team) took the field in Qatar for their Group B opener vs. Wales. While this team is brimming with far more individual talent than the Americans have ever possessed, they still came away with a disappointing result: a 1-1 draw. Earlier in the day, England opened with a 6-2 thrashing of Iran which is what a heavyweight team like the English are expected to do. Of course, up next the Americans meet England on Black Friday (2, Fox) in a huge showdown that now takes on even more meaning since the U.S. settled for a point rather than earning the full three against the Welsh. Ugh.

    The U.S. played a nearly flawless first half and took a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute on a brilliant build-up play (more on that later) and a top-class finish by 22-year-old forward Timothy Weah. Rather than push for the all-important second goal in the second half, head coach Gregg Berhalter decided to sit on that perilous lead and ended up getting burned by Welsh legend Gareth Bale who drew a dumb foul in the box from defender Walker Zimmerman. The LA Galaxy star (that still sounds so weird to say) predictably converted the penalty kick in the 82nd minute and the Welsh grabbed a point in a match where the U.S. owned 59% possesion and had two more corner kicks (5-3) than Wales. 

    Did I mention that the U.S. finished with just one shot on goal? Yeah, that will not get it done at a major tournament. I think any objective American fan came into this cursed event in an awful and backwards country most scared of Berhalter screwing this whole thing up since he is their most glaring weakness besides inexperience of the players on this stage. Today was not a fireable offense but budding star midfielder Giovanni Reyna never seeing the field while forward Jordan Morris was a late substitute for Weah was a ridiculous decision. Turner did his part with a spectaular save to punch a dangerous Welsh header over the crossbar in the second half. He even got a hand on Bale's penalty kick but it was stuck way too hard to make a difference. 

   Starting with striker Josh Sargent's holdup then Pulisic's rush forward followed by a perfectly weighted pass to Weah who one-timed a finish before Wales' goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey could rush out to stop it, that U.S. goal was utterly gorgeous. Needless to say, past American teams never pulled off sequences like that against legitimate competition. Berhalter's starting 11 was about as good as it gets given the current roster: Turner in goal; Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Zimmerman and Sergino Dest in the back; Yunus Musah, newly-elected captain Tyler Adams (who was deservedly voted Man of the Match) and Weston McKennie in the midfield; Pulisic, Sargent and Weah up front. Other than the puzzling Morris move, Yedlin came on for Dest, Kellyn Acosta replaced Musah and Brenden Aaronson subbed in for McKennie. Besides Reyna, there really were not any other guys that never played against Wales that you could make much of a fuss about. 

    Berhalter should not panic and if I were him, I would roll with basically the same lineup vs. England. The U.S. has to be careful then since four guys (Ream, Dest, Acosta and McKennie) will carry yellow cards into that match with risk of missing the Iran Group B finale (should they pick up another yellow) which is likely to be very important for all four countries in the Group. England will be favored but the United States has shown in the past that they can play with the English. Goal differential is always something to pay attention to in this format so if they lose, it cannot be by more a goal or two. The U.S. led 1-0 at halftime against Wales and were up for 46 minutes late into the second half so hopefully this group takes some lessons from their first taste of the World Cup and puts it to good use when they meet one of the best teams on the planet.

Tweet

Follow @RichSlate 

After Eight Long Years, The U.S. Men's National Team Is Headed Back To The (2022) World Cup!

 

    In the most anti-climatic way possible (all they needed to do was not lose by 6+ goals), the U.S. men's national team secured their place in the 2022 World Cup with a 2-0 defeat tonight at Costa Rica. The Americans finished third in CONCACAF behind Canada (no really) and Mexico to earn the last automatic bid from the region; the Costa Ricans will have to face New Zealand in a playoff for another ticket to Qatar this fall. The World Cup draw is on Friday afternoon (11:30 am, FS1) with the event starting on November 21 and the Final is on December 17. Haha nothing like having one of the biggest events in the world smack dab in the middle of the holidays and a million other things going on in sports. 

    After infamously missing out on the 2018 World Cup, what should be a basically automatic thing for the USMNT became that much more important in this cycle. Sure they had their ups and downs (in case you forgot, qualifying takes forever) but all that matters for head coach Gregg Berhalter is that they got the job done. For casual fans who only tune into the World Cup, this promises to be the most talented squad that the United State has ever fielded. Almost all of the older players from previous World Cup teams have been phased out, replaced by precocious studs all over the pitch that are employed by some of the top clubs in soccer: forward Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) is the headliner that everybody knows but midfielders Giovanni Reyna (Dortmund), Weston McKennie (Juventus) and Tyler Adams (Red Bull Leipzig) along with defender Sergino Dest (Barcelona) are just a few of the names that you will be constantly hearing from now until November (Wyclef Jean voice). 

    It sounds like a cop out but so much of the USMNT's fate in Qatar will be determined by who are the other three countries in their group. With a favorable draw, they could potentially go very far in the tournament. Conversely, if they must play a couple powerhouse teams in the group stage then yikes. Regardless, this is a fun and likable collection of players that are only going to get better with this most valuable experience at the World Cup that most of them lack. Keep in mind that the 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico so given the young ages of most of our top players, you can start to understand why people have sky high expectations for that time since many of these guys hopefully will be in their primes by then.

    Finally, I would argue that there is no more important global sporting event than the World Cup and you simply cannot underestimate how much buzz soccer will generate if the USMNT can make a run in Qatar. Something similar to this has been said at every previous World Cup but thanks to video games and social media, the game has never been more popular in the States-just ask your kids or younger relatives. With so many of these players competing outside of MLS, you start to understand that this isn't your father's all-heart and little talent American teams of the past. There are plenty of questions about Berhalter and some time left to figure out who will make the final roster but at this moment, this is a time to celebrate and be proud once again of the USMNT because they are winners after the darkest time in their modern era.

UPDATE 4/1/22: The World Cup draw was this afternoon and I have to say that it went really well for the United States at least on paper. They are in Group B with England, Iran and the European playoff winner of Wales vs. Scotland/Ukraine. They'll meet the European playoff winner on the opening day of the tournament November 21. After that, they'll face England on Black Friday (November 25) and they will close out the group stage on November 29 vs. Iran. They should win the opener, a positive result against England is possible and they have to beat Iran.

Tweet

Follow @RichSlate 

Dos A Cero Forever and Ever: The USMNT Beats Mexico For The Third Time In A Row Since June

 

    Remember when the USMNT (4-2-1) was on the brink of utter disaster just a few short months ago? That hardly seems to matter now as they beat their archrival Mexico (4-2-1) 2-0 tonight at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. Canada (3-4-0) held off Costa Rica (1-3-3) this evening in Edmonton leaving the Canadians one point behind both the United States and Mexico. Panama (3-2-2) is the only other country that is in the same neighborhood as those top three teams. Any victory against Mexico is a huge one but this carried extra meaning since it vaulted the U.S. to the top of their eight country CONCACAF group. It was also the first loss of this round (the 3rd) of qualifying for the Mexicans and it meant that the Americans have now beaten them in three staright matches dating back to this past June-something that neither country has done in this epic series since 1937. 

    It was scoreless at halftime and it remained 0-0 for much of the second half before the U.S. got a jolt of energy from its best player (who was a substitute) followed by an insurance goal by another one of their main stars. Of course, this was all made possible by goalkeeper Zack Steffen (4 saves) who earned the shutout with some solid play including a diving stop on a partial breakaway by Hirving Lozano-Mexico's best goal scorer-in the 18th minute. Forward Christian Pulisic did not start because he's only played two games for his club team-Chelsea-since returning from a serious ankle injury. In five minutes of action though, he made an immediate impact as he connected on a diving header with fellow forward Timothy Weah providing a picture perfect cross from the right side into the box. 

    Much like Pulisic, midfielder Weston McKennie is already proving to be a big-game performer for the USMNT not to mention his powerhouse club (Juventus). Unfortuately, in the 68th minute he picked up a yellow card for the second match in a row so he will miss the next U.S. World Cup qualifier-on Tuesday (5, Paramount+) at Jamaica (1-3-3). He made up for that by corraling a loose ball and dribbling through or around multiple Mexican defenders before finishing a low shot into the corner of the net. That made it 2-0 in favor of the U.S. in the 85th minute and stunned Mexico never had any time to recover. The only other negative for the Americans was that defender Miles Robinson picked up a red card in the 89th minute on a shaky at best call. He will sit out as well on Tuesday meaning that head coach Gregg Berhalter needs to make at least two changes to his starting lineup from tonight. 

    Finally, Tuesday night represents a golden opportunity for the U.S. to try and separate itself a bit at the top of the table. Sure from the outside it appears to have all the makings of the usual CONCACAF trap game that affects every country in this wacky region from time to time: they are facing an underdog opponent on a shoddy field and in a terrible stadium that has next to nothing to lose at this point. You'll remember that the previous time that the USMNT and Jamaica met on October 7, the Americans walked away with a 2-0 victory in Austin, TX. It will take another strong team effort to get the desired result of three more points. It is also their final World Cup 2022 qualifier in 2021 and the next one after that won't be for over two months (vs. El Salvador on January 27) so what better way to go into the holidays than with a win?

Tweet

Follow @RichSlate 

After A Rough Week, U.S. Men's National Team Woke Up & Earned A Huge 4-1 Win At Honduras

 

    Let's be real, it had not been a fun time to be a fan of the U.S. men's national team. Qualifying for the 2022 World Cup had hit a major bump in the road as they had a scoreless draw last Thursday at El Salvador, followed by a 1-1 tie with Canada in Nashville on Sunday. Couple that with injuries to some of their best players (Gio Reyna and Sergino Dest) not to mention a shameful temporary exit from the team after violating Covid-19 protocols (Weston McKennie) and you can understand why angst was growing by the hour. Tonight in the first half at Honduras, they looked like a mess as striker Brayan Moya used a diving header (when he was left completely unmarked in the middle of the box) to give the home team a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. Thankfully, the second half was a revelation as the United States looked like a different team as they scored four times to come away with a much-needed 4-1 victory. 

    Nobody is probably more thankful for the win than U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter since it is not hyperbole to say that his job was on the line if they had lost and come away with two out of a possible nine points this week. If you think that is being a little too dramatic, Jurgen Klinsmann was fired in a similar spot (after two matches in their ill-fated 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign). Also, former USMNT forward Taylor Twellman said as much on ESPN this evening after the U.S. vs. Honduras match. So where has this team been? Good question since three of the four goals for the Americans came from substitutes which shows how poorly Berhalter's strange makeshift lineup performed in the first half. 

    Fulham defender Antonee Robinson scored the biggest goal of his life in the 48th minute after he came on to start the second half. With a loose ball bouncing around in the box, he was there to calmly finish with a measured volley into the side netting. Making his first ever start for the U.S., 18-year-old striker Ricardo Pepi of FC Dallas made Berhalter look brilliant as he scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the 75th minute. Midfielder DeAndre Yedlin served a perfect cross to Pepi who headed the ball strongly into the corner. After playing great in the first half, Honduras crumbled late in the second half with another sub-forward Brenden Aaronson of Red Bull Salzburg-finishing a give-and-go with Pepi in the 86th minute. Finally, defender Sebastian Lletget of the LA Galaxy was able to clean up a rebound of a shot by Pepi for the final tally in the 93rd minute. 

    Besides the nightmare first half, the only real negative for the U.S. was that their best player Christian Pulisic of Chelsea fame went off in the 62nd minute with what looked like a pretty serious ankle injury. The good news in that regard is that he has nearly a month to heal up since the next window of World Cup qualifying games is in October starting on the 7th in Austin, TX vs. Jamaica. Three days later, the Americans go to Panama followed by an October 13 date with Costa Rica in Columbus, Ohio. After matchday three, the U.S. is tied with Canada for second-place (out of 8 countries) while Panama also has five points. Not surprisingly, Mexico is on top with seven points while Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador are all struggling with two points then Jamaica is last with only one point. Besides that performance, the best thing for this group is some time away from each other for a bit. They can focus on their club seasons for a few weeks before reconvening hopefully with a different mindset next month. The upcoming portion of their schedule does not sound too daunting at least on paper but the last week should prove that they cannot afford to take any opponent for granted right now and every point is precious to them because they simply have to qualify for the 2022 World Cup by any means necessary.

Tweet

Follow @RichSlate 

The U.S. Men Finished The Job By Beating Mexico 1-0 In Extra Time To Capture The 2021 Gold Cup

 

    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.

Tweet

Follow @RichSlate 

Hoppe Got His First International Goal & USMNT Beat Jamaica 1-0 To Reach Gold Cup Semis

 

    You might not have noticed but the USMNT continues to get it done at the 2021 Gold Cup as they hung on for an exciting 1-0 victory tonight in the quarterfinals against Jamaica at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX (aka the home of the Dallas Cowboys). 20-year-old American forward Matthew Hoppe-who plays for FC Schalke in Germany-was the hero as he bravely headed in a cross from Seattle Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan in the 83rd minute for his first international goal. That turned out to be all the USMNT needed as New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner made five saves for his third clean sheet of the tournament. With the win, the U.S. advances to their 11th straight Gold Cup semifinal (and 15th overall) vs. Qatar on Thursday night (7:30, FS1) in Austin, TX at the beautiful new Q2 Stadium (home of MLS' latest expansion club, Austin FC). 

    If the US had somehow lost this match, it would have been super frustrating since they absolutely dominated possession (67%-33%!) but that really meant very little because both teams had exactly five shots on goal and seven corner kicks apiece. Hoppe's clutch goal saved head coach Gregg Berhalter from some nervy minutes in extra time-and possibly penalty kicks-as his guys battled Jamaica's fantastic goalkeeper Andre Blake (4 saves) who stars for the Philadelphia Union in MLS. As I explained in the previous post, this is far from the A-team for the USMNT these days but nevertheless, they have been grinding out results against other CONCACAF teams these past few weeks. In fact, if you throw out the 6-1 blowout of Martinique, the US has topped Haiti, Canada and Jamaica by the exact same 1-0 final score.

    You probably don't know much about Qatar (the Asian champion and host of the 2022 World Cup) but trust me, they will test the US on Thursday. They are here after a wild 3-2 nailbiter over El Salvador on Saturday night. Before that, they had won Group D-which also featured Honduras, Panama and Grenada-and including the El Salvador triumph, they have scored the most goals (12) in the entire competition. Moreover, they are fielding what is the closest to their best roster of all the countries in the Gold Cup so for those reasons, the semifinal is not a layup by any means even though it is guaranteed to basically be a home game for the USMNT. In the other semifinal on Thursday night (10, FS1), Mexico meets Canada so yes my friends, we are only one game away from possibly another installment of the superb USMNT vs. Mexico blood rivalry this time in the 2021 Gold Cup Final next Sunday night (8:30, FS1) in Las Vegas.

Tweet

Follow @RichSlate 

After Beating Honduras 1-0, USMNT Advances To The Concacaf Nations League Final Vs. Mexico

 

    With NHL and NBA playoff games on tonight, I'm not going to assume that you were glued to the USMNT vs. Honduras in the inaugural Concacaf Nations League semifinal at Empower Field at Mile High. Still, it had some relevance since it was the USMNT's first official competitive match since way back in November 2019. Head coach Gregg Berhalter put together the second-youngest starting 11 in USMNT history and it worked as they squeezed out a 1-0 victory thanks to substitute Jordan Siebatcheu's clutch header in the 89th minute. Oh by the way, it was his first USMNT appearance, talk about making an instant impact! Most importantly, this sets up a juicy title game between the US and Mexico on Sunday night (9:36, CBS Sports Network). 

    If we want to take a more critical view, with most of their best players in the lineup (namely Zack Steffen, Sergino Dest, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna and Christian Pulisic), you would expect the Americans to dominate against one of their mediocre Concacaf brethren. Honduras surprisingly had some good scoring chances too as Sargent cleared a ball off the goal line in the 27th minute with a great backwards header and Steffen also came out to challenge a shot in the 51st minute that could have been a goal if he was slower to react. Before their goal, the best opportunities for the US came on a Reyna shot early on that went inches wide of the net, a Sargent header in the 30th minute and Pulisic was stuffed in the next minute from in close. 

    This would have gone straight to penalty kicks if it was tied after regulation but thankfully it didn't have to come to that. The game-winning play came when defender John Brooks crossed the ball to McKennie who headed it back to the middle where Siebatcheau dove for a powerful header. I would say that the USMNT will have to play much better on Sunday to beat Mexico but they struggled as well and hung on for a 5-4 victory in penalty kicks against Costa Rica in the other semifinal. Hopefully playing each other brings out the best in these bitter rivals. I cannot think of a better way to wrap up the weekend and get this summer of soccer started than with the latest chapter of the USMNT vs. Mexico. 

Tweet

Follow @RichSlate 

Happy Day: Valencia Midfielder Yunus Musah Chooses The USMNT Over England, Italy & Ghana

 

    You might not have been aware of it but this morning the USMNT scored one of their most important victories in a long time. No it didn't come on a field, in true 2021 form the message that 18-year-old midfielder Yunus Musah had picked them over the likes of England, Italy and Ghana was relayed over social media. Think about that, a prodigious talent that currently starts regularly in La Liga (Spain) for Valenica on his own free will picked the U.S. men's soccer team over two European powerhouses and the African country where his parents are originally from. 

    I liken this whole process to big-time recruits in high school basketball or football in America picking which juggernaut college program they'll presumably play for during the next few years before hopefully making millions of dollars as a pro. The key difference in Musah's case is that while his future is still unwritten, he has already proven at a young age that he can play in one of the top leagues in the world for a middle table club as a teenager. With all due respect to USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter, I'm pretty sure this decision had very little to do with him since who the hell is he in Musah's mind?

    Nope, while it's great that Berhalter gave Musah his first two USMNT caps in November vs. Wales and Panama, the player is betting on the future of the U.S. being brighter than those three other aforementioned countries. The chance to play with great young American players like midfielders Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Dortmund) and Tyler Adams (Red Bull Leipzig) was too much for Yunus to pass up and that's something which should give U.S. fans plenty of confidence moving forward. 

    It's one thing for sportswriters and media members to project what countries are going to be on top in the near future but who knows better than the guys who are actually on the field, you know playing in the games themselves? Musah has gotten a taste of U.S. training camps and a few friendlies and he obviously liked what he saw. Keep in mind, he went to Arsenal's academy and he captained England at various levels including the Under-18s in 2019 and he played on the Under-19s team in October of 2020. Musah is following in the footsteps of Barcelona defender Sergino Dest who wisely picked the USMNT over the Netherlands in 2019. 

    A very busy year is about to commence for the USMNT as Olympic qualifying starts later this week, they have a pair of friendlies next week against Jamaica and Northern Ireland then this summer they have the Nations League, the Gold Cup and the Olympics (assuming that they make it there this time). World Cup 2022 qualifying begins in September and that doomed tournament takes place in November and December of next year in Qatar. If it feels like you understandably need a refresher course on who plays for the USMNT these days, don't worry since you'll get plenty of chances to see them (obviously with different rosters depending on the time of the year and the various club schedules) in the coming months.

Tweet

Follow @RichSlate 

With a Chance to Bring Positive Energy Back, USMNT Fall Flat On Their Face in Gold Cup Final

I'll keep this brief because first of all this team-the USMNT-really doesn't deserve much attention (at least in a positive manner) and likewise, especially on today of all days when the USWNT just captured their fourth World Cup title. However, let it be noted that the U.S. men fell 1-0 tonight in the Gold Cup 2019 Final to Mexico at a sold-out Soldier Field in Chicago. The Americans were bidding for their seventh Gold Cup title but they were outdone by their most bitter rival the Mexicans who earned their record eighth Gold Cup crown in front of what must have felt like a home game to them. Oh and did I mention that Mexico improved to 5-1 against them in the Final? The only U.S. win vs. Mexico in the Final remains from 2007.

The U.S. had two great scoring chances early in the match as midfielder Christian Pulisic had a breakaway stopped by Mexico's goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (I'm the biggest Pulisic honk I know but he should have done better with that shot). That was frustrating but not even in the same galaxy as striker Jozy Altidore's pathetic breakaway that started off so well with him putting a Mexican defender on skates but that ended with him shooting the ball wide of the net. When you don't score on either opportunity like that in soccer, you have a sense of impending doom that hits you right away when you are playing a team that is better than you to begin with.

Sure enough while it was 0-0 at halftime, Mexico turned up the pressure in the second half and was rewarded in the 73rd minute with a beautiful goal (part of me just died inside admitting that). The sequence began when midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro (who earlier in the 1st half appeared to hyper-extend his elbow) passed to forward Raul Jimenez in the box who back-heeled a pass to midfielder Jonathan dos Santos whose left-footed shot rose enough to hit the crossbar but bounce in past U.S. goalkeeper Zach Steffen.

One goal shouldn't automatically mean that you are cooked but with Altidore already subbed out and the other veteran American Michael Bradley (why is he still on the team?) giving away the ball in the midfield left and right, you knew that the USMNT was in dire shape down 1-0. They finished with only two shots on goal and despite having four more corner kicks than Mexico (7-3), they did nothing but waste them all.

I'm not going to say that he was exposed since I didn't think much of him to begin with but I can't say that I'm overly impressed with the latest U.S. vanilla head coach Gregg Berhalter. His roster decisions for the Gold Cup were puzzling (no Josh Sargent?) and while I admit that he was understandably hamstrung a bit by a Tyler Adams injury right before the tournament started, that's no excuse for making such bizarre decisions like putting in something called Daniel Lovitz in the 83rd minute this evening down a goal. Huh? I understand that winning a Gold Cup doesn't mean all that much in the grand scheme of things but to get this program back on track, shouldn't they focus on tasks that they can excel at like this while building to those more pipe-dream thoughts (ruling CONCACAF, winning a group stage and competing for a World Cup, etc.)?

This could have been a change of pace from their last few years of painful irrelevance, a rare good development for the USMNT. However, instead they continue to spin their collective wheels despite possessing a ton of young talent (Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Boyd who somehow didn't play tonight) that thank god, choose to play in leagues outside of average MLS.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate