The USMNT Blanked Canada 2-0 To Capture Its Second Straight CONCACAF Nations League Title

 

    After all of the on-the-field and off-the-field drama for the US men's national team on Thursday, tonight was back to a more routine kind of match and result as they did what they always do on home soil: they beat Canada 2-0 to win the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Final at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Despite the sorry state of the Mexican national team at the moment (they squeaked by Panama 1-0 in the third-place game earlier today), their matches vs. the United States will always be more highly-charged than when the USMNT plays Canada (this ain't hockey). Of course, a title is always nice particularly to start what should be a fun summer for the USMNT and the USWNT-the Women's World Cup starts in a month in Australia and New Zealand as the Americans vie for their third straight crown. 

    Displaying a scoring punch that was severely lacking at the 2022 World Cup, the US struck for a pair of goals in the first half this evening that left Canada stunned and they ultimately never recovered from it. The first was from defender Chris Richards who headed in a corner kick by midfielder Gio Reyna in the 12th minute. Richards plays at Crystal Palace in the Premier League but I have to admit that after he scored, I wondered aloud for a few moments "who is that?" For good reason since it was his first career goal for the USMNT and truth be told, it was one that Canada's goalkeeper the immortal Milan Borjan should have stopped. The header was not that powerful and it did not go into a top corner of the net, instead it somehow went comically under a diving Borjan. 

    Haters will knock that first US goal (and rightfully so) but the second was all class as our new striker/savior 21-year-old Folarin Balogun took a nifty pass from Reyna, shielded his defender and buried a one-time shot with power and accuracy in the 34th minute. He made his debut on Thursday for the US and this goal should only fuel the hype for what I'm predicting could be the best goal-scorer that we have ever produced. Needless to say that the USMNT rarely ever scored goals that looked like that but if Thursday and today were any indication, we should expect many more highlight reel strikes before long. Canada trailed 2-0 at halftime and despite a misleading 64%-36% advantage in possession, the impotent Canadian attack could only muster four shots on goal and goalkeeper Matt Turner stopped all of them for his second shutout in a row. 

    After some well-deserved partying in Vegas (what a place to win the CONCACAF Nations League!), the team will mostly go home to rest for their upcoming club seasons or take a vacation to get away from soccer for a bit. There is only a handful of guys that will be competing for the US in the Gold Cup which starts for them next Saturday night (9:30, FS1) in Chicago against Jamaica. The Gold Cup is usually a welcome diversion in the dog days of summer sports but keep in mind if you tune in that you will not be seeing most of the top American players other than Turner who needs all the playing time that he can get after being the backup for almost every Arsenal match in 2022-23. This is a squad that is MLS-heavy since that league is currently in season while all the European leagues are on summer break. Also, the US will look to defend their Gold Cup championship as they won the last competition in 2021. 

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.

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Oh Hey Guys, the USMNT Advanced to the Gold Cup Final vs. Mexico With a 3-1 Win vs. Jamaica

Even the most serious person would have a hard time keeping a straight face when they pretend to compare the importance of the Women's World Cup to the utter irrelevance of the Gold Cup. That's why I have failed to mention anything about the USMNT in the Gold Cup this summer until just now because beating up on the likes of Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Panama and Curacao (outscoring them 12-0 in the process) means very little to a hardcore soccer fan like myself so who else would really care?

However, in the slowest sports time of the year I started to come around to this bi-annual event with Mexico's 1-0 extra time victory over powerhouse Haiti last night in the semifinals. All the U.S. had to do was take care of business tonight in Nashville vs. Jamaica (who they beat in the 2017 Gold Cup Final) and they survived a 90-minute weather delay (due to lightning) en route to a 3-1 victory.

Do you realize how incredibly special Sunday could be for U.S. soccer in general? While our beloved USWNT meet the Netherlands (11, FOX) in the World Cup Final for the main course, the night cap is a juicy USMNT vs. Mexico showdown in Chicago (9, FS1). U.S. vs. Mexico is always must-see TV and especially in a setting like this which should be electric. If that's not enough to entice you to wrap up your holiday weekend with Gregg Berhalter's hodgepodge collection of youngsters and a few veterans, think about this: midfielder Christian Pulisic at the ripe old age of 20 is already the best men's player in USMNT history. Not convinced? Well he had two goals tonight but let's not forget that this summer he will begin his journey at Chelsea (England), you know one of the best and most powerful clubs in the world. The U.S. failing to qualify for last summer's World Cup was a disaster for a million reasons but I will always point to missing out on Pulisic getting to play against the world's top teams and players at such a young age would have been utterly awesome.

Pulisic gets most of the headlines as he should but there are other intriguing talents on the USMNT that you probably aren't aware of. Midfielder Weston McKennie (who recently signed an extension with Schalke of Germany's Bundesliga) opened the scoring with a pretty goal in the ninth minute. It all began with a long pass from Michael Bradley (yes, he's still a thing) to Reggie Cannon who one-touched it into the box for Jozy Altidore (soon to be Mr. Sloane Stephens to you) who laid it off for McKennie to blast by Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake. It was McKennie's second goal of the tournament, his other one was the game-winner in the previous match (a snoozefest 1-0 quarterfinal win vs. Curacao). Pulisic and McKennie have been friends for awhile as you can tell from their fantastic post-goal celebrations.

U.S. goalkeeper Zack Steffen is leaving the Columbus Crew (MLS) for Manchester City (England) but first, he'll be loaned to Dusseldorf (Germany). He only had to make three saves against Jamaica but a few of those were quality stops. After returning from the long delay, the U.S. was up 1-0 at halftime. In the 52nd minute, Pulisic pounced on a juicy rebound after Blake fumbled a relatively easy shot from Jordan Morris. It was Pulisic's 12th career goal for the USMNT and his second of the 2019 Gold Cup. McKennie and Altidore both picked up yellow cards in the first half so it was no surprise that Jozy was Berhalter's first sub out-in the 56th minute-as Gyasi Zardes came on for him. Also, his fitness level is shall we see not at peak condition at the moment.

Jamaica turned up the offensive pressure and they were rewarded with a goal in the 69th minute as forward Shamar Nicholson (who entered 4 minutes earlier) headed in a cross from midfielder Leon Bailey. It was the first goal conceded by the Americans in the tournament so there is that. There were some nervy moments for the U.S. hanging on to that 2-1 lead as midfielder Cristian Roldan replaced his Seattle Sounders teammate Morris in the 70th minute. Pulisic refused to let his squad lose though as once again, Blake was extremely generous in his rebound control. He made a diving save on Paul Arriola's shot from outside the box but Pulisic was able to jump up from the ground and put in some more loose change. In the process, he became only the second U.S. player to score a brace (2 goals) in the Gold Cup semifinals, joining Landon Donovan.

This will be the U.S.' 11th appearance in the Gold Cup Final which is a tournament record and they have made it this far in seven of the last eight editions. Dating back to the 2017 Gold Cup, they have won 10 straight games in the competition and five in a row overall. It feels like it is always U.S. vs. Mexico in the Final but this is only the sixth time out of 15 times that it's happened (Mexico is 4-1 with the only U.S triumph coming 12 years ago). In the history of the Gold Cup, the Mexicans have the most titles (7) but the Americans can tie that with a win on Sunday. Mexico always draws huge crowds wherever they go (don't forget your festive bags of urine to throw at your most hated U.S. players!) and hopefully a decent amount of U.S. fans show up in Chicago as well, it is on their home soil after all. Hopefully as we are basking in the glow of the fourth USWNT World Cup crown, we see an entertaining match between these two countries that genuinely hate each other. The USMNT has a long way to go towards earning back many of the fans it lost over the last few depressing years but a win against Mexico would be a nice way to kick start that effort.

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U.S. Men Get Ready For A Busy Couple Weeks, Calling 26 Players Into Training Camp

I have been slacking lately with this blog but things should be picking up in the next month. The U.S. men's national team has a pair of top-notch friendlies stateside (vs. Belgium and Germany) before they get back to 2014 World Cup qualifying against Jamaica, Panama and Honduras. In anticipation of those matches, U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann today named his 26-man roster that's coming to training camp in Cleveland starting on May 26.

U.S. ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS (6) : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (8) : DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Michael Parkhurst (Augsburg)
MIDFIELDERS (10) : Michael Bradley (Roma), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Bursaspor), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Brek Shea (Stoke City), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (5) : Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur), Herculez Gomez (Santos), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC)

For me, the most notable parts of the roster are Holden who hasn't played for the U.S. since October 2010 because of various injuries. Also, Howard and Johnson are back after they missed the last qualifiers-in March. Of course the biggest name not to be on here is Landon Donovan although reports earlier in the week indicated this would be the case. Defenders Steve Cherundolo and Timmy Chandler are both still out like in March as they rehab from knee injuries.

The friendlies start on May 29 as the Americans host Belgium at First Energy Stadium. After that, they'll play Germany on June 2 at RFK Stadium in Washington DC. Things get real on June 7 as the U.S. visits Jamaica in Kingston then they return home to face Panama on June 11 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. This very busy stretch wraps up on June 18 with the U.S. taking a trip to Rio Tinto Stadium in Honduras.

“We are very excited about the group we have put together,” said Klinsmann in a press release. “The players understand more how we’re working, what we’re looking for, the way we want to play and the way we want to challenge big nations eye-to-eye. As we go into this stretch of two friendly games against Belgium and Germany and three big World Cup Qualifiers, we want to see more consistent performances. There is a huge opportunity to pick up a lot of points and put ourselves in a good position to qualify for Brazil.”

Michael Bradley will compete in the Coppa Italia Final on May 26 in Rome against Lazio.

Edgar Castillo and Joe Corona have continued the historic run with Club Tijuana in the 2013 Copa Libertadores, advancing to the quarterfinals to face Atletico Mineiro on May 22 and May 29.

Sean Johnson (May 26-30), Bill Hamid (May 30-June 2), Tally Hall (June 2-June 8) and Nick Rimando (June 9-19) will all rotate through camp at different stages and serve as the third goalkeeper.

Eight players are carrying yellow cards into the next World Cup qualifiers: DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Matt Besler, Brad Davis, Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu, Fabian Johnson and Graham Zusi. Their next caution will result in a one-match suspension.

I'm looking forward to all these matches since it's rare that they get to play such quality European squads. The World Cup qualifiers are their own animal and it will be exciting to get back into that emotional grind.

UPDATE 5/21: Midfielder Brad Davis was added to the training camp roster.

UPDATE 5/23: Houston Dynamo defender Corey Ashe was added to the training camp roster for the U.S.

UPDATE 5/28: Edu, Shea and Ashe are all out with injuries that will force them to miss this week's friendlies and the World Cup qualifiers in June.

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After A Fantastic 1st Half & Blah 2nd Half, U.S. Men Do Enough To Earn A 1-0 Win Vs. Jamaica

For the first 45 minutes tonight at Columbus Crew Stadium, the U.S. men's national team played some of its most dominant soccer that I've ever seen from them. They had a 79%-21% possession advantage over Jamaica but it was scoreless since they hit the post/crossbar three different times.

The second half was completely forgettable except for Herculez Gomez's goal in the 55th minute off a free kick. That turned out to be the game-winner as the U.S. held on for a 1-0 win in a 2014 World Cup qualifier that truthfully shouldn't have been that close. The three points are all that matters though since Jamaica beat them 2-1 on Friday in Kingston.

The U.S. improved to 7-2-2 this year and is now 11-1-8 all-time against Jamaica. The U.S. maintained its unbeaten record at Columbus Crew Stadium, moving to 6-0-3 all-time at the USA’s first soccer specific venue and they are 9-0-3 in home matches against Jamaica.

Now, the U.S. vaulted from third-place in Group A to a first-place tie with Guatemala (who beat Antigua and Barbuda 1-0 tonight as well). They each have seven points (2-1-1), along with Jamaica, but the U.S. and Guatemala have a better goal-differential at +2. There are two more matches in this round: U.S. at Antigua and Barbuda on October 12 and U.S. hosts Guatemala on October 16 in Kansas City. It looks like the latter match could have huge implications since the top two make it to the next round which means either the U.S., Guatemala or Jamaica will be eliminated.

Jurgen Klinsmann made five changes to his starting lineup and they paid immediate dividends. Graham Zusi, making his first appearance in a World Cup qualifier, was one of the U.S.' better players. In the 6th minute, his shot out of nowhere nearly went in but it hit the crossbar-something which became all too familiar.

Gomez also had a fine match, he almost was sent in on a breakaway when he chested down a long pass from Steve Cherundolo but he was knocked off the ball. Later, his free kick into the box was right where you want it but Jermaine Jones completely whiffed on a header that wasn't that difficult.

After Jones drew a yellow card on Lovel Palmer in the 17th minute for a wild tackle, Gomez's free kick was punched out by Dwayne Miller. By that point, the U.S. was buzzing as Cherundolo's rare shot was deflected off the post. Then Carlos Bocanegra headed a corner back to Zusi but his volley was high. For the third time in the opening 30 minutes, the U.S. hit the woodwork as Danny Williams' long-range shot beat Miller to the side but rattled off the post.

Gomez and the U.S. were rewarded for their stellar start in the 54th minute when he scored his fifth career international goal, second in World Cup qualifying. He hit the curling shot well but in reality, Miller made much better saves in the first half and I'm sure he'd like to have that one back since his hands were in position while he dove to the side. Regardless, the U.S. deserved that strike which isn't something I would often exclaim.

It would have been great to see the U.S. pop an insurance goal and put this out of reach but that's generally not how they operate. Klinsmann rolled the dice by taking out Zusi, Jose Torres and Gomez for Maurice Edu, Brek Shea and Jozy Altidore respectively. Not exactly your dream trio in terms of salting away a win. Oh well, it worked this time.

There were a couple nervy moments for Tim Howard as Jamaica finally looked to go forward in the second half but they either couldn't connect on crosses or shots went over the goal. This was an ugly win but on the road to a World Cup, you're bound to have matches like tonight when you have to slog through unforeseen circumstances (hitting the post three times). Credit to the U.S. for staying composed and knowing that their time would come. Let's hope Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan are healthy in October because they could sure use their talents in the midfield and attacking third.

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Well I Hope The U.S. Men Enjoyed Their Trip To Jamaica

Once again, I guess I should consider it a blessing in disguise that I wasn't able to watch a U.S. men's national team World Cup qualifier live (hello Guatemala earlier this summer) because if I had, I might have smashed my television or the remote.

The U.S. lost 2-1 in Jamaica last night at Independence Park aka The Office (the U.S. is 0-1-4 there), marking the first time in 19 meetings (1-10-8) that the Americans had fallen to the Jamaicans. Jamaica is now in first place in Group A with seven points, the U.S. and Guatemala are tied with four points and the same goal-differential after Guatemala rallied for a 3-1 win at Antigua and Barbuda last night.

The weird part is that Clint Dempsey scored 35 seconds in (fastest goal in U.S. World Cup qualifying history) but after that the U.S. couldn't mount any sort of attack. No doubt missing midfielders Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan (both out with injuries) hurt them severely.

Maurice Edu played a through ball to Herculez Gomez, his shot was saved but Dempsey (making his first appearance in 3 months) was there for the rebound. It was his 28th international goal and he has scored in all three World Cup qualifiers in 2012.

Jamaica scored both of its goals off of dangerous free kicks from the top of the box. In the 23rd minute, after a foul by Kyle Beckerman, Rodolph Austin hit a shot that deflected off Beckerman's legs (he was in the wall) and past Tim Howard.

In the 62nd minute, after a foul by Edu, Jamaica's all-time leading scorer Luton Shelton extended his record with his 34th international goal. Howard had no chance as it curled low and inside the near post.

These teams meet again on Tuesday night in Columbus, Ohio. Thankfully, that will be broadcast live in the States (ESPN2, 8 p.m. ET) so we can all watch it and don't have to rely on Twitter or sketchy gametrackers online. Needless to say, at worst the United States has to get a draw. A win would put them back in the right direction while a loss would further compound last night's disaster.

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U.S. Men Get Ready For A Double Dose Of Jamaica In World Cup Qualifiers

Fresh off their historic 1-0 win in Mexico on August 15 (albeit in a friendly), the U.S. men's national team gets back to business in terms of 2014 World Cup qualifying as they travel to Kingston, Jamaica on Friday night (8 p.m., not on TV here) to play Jamaica. Then the Reggae Boyz come to Columbus, Ohio for a rematch on September 11 (8 p.m., ESPN 2, ESPN3.com).

Today, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann selected 24 players to train for the vital pair of Group A matches. Keep in mind that midfielders Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan are both unavailable because of injuries. Interestingly enough, the U.S. has never won a World Cup qualifier in Jamaica, they have only settled for four ties.

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (4): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (9): Carlos Bocanegra (Racing Santander), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Maurice Edu (Stoke City), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Michael Orozco Fiscal (San Luis), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland), Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Jose Torres (Pachuca), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur), Herculez Gomez (Santos)

18 American players were part of the 3-1 win vs. Antigua and Barbuda on June 8 and the 1-1 tie vs. Guatemala on June 12. 20 of the Americans currently compete on a European club with five in the English Premier League. In total, they play in nine countries.

2012 has been very good to the U.S. men, they are 6-1-2 with five shutouts. Their signature moments have been their first-ever win (1-0) in Italy (February 29) and their inaugural victory in Mexico that I already referred to. Beating Jamaica on their home soil isn't at that level but it would still be a nice addition to this impressive resume. Jamaica is tied atop Group A with four points after two matches but the U.S. leads with a better goal differential.

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Looking Ahead To The U.S. Men's World Cup Qualifiers In 2012

With 2011 wrapped up as far as the U.S. men's national team is concerned, their 2012 World Cup qualifier schedule was announced today so let's look ahead.

On the surface, these six games all basically appear to be eminently winnable. The U.S. is grouped with Antigua, Guatemala and Jamaica. Even for CONCACAF, one of the worst regions in FIFA, that's a pathetic group of teams.

The U.S. begins by hosting Antigua on Friday, June 8 at a location to be announced. On June 12, Jurgen Klinsmann's guys travel to Guatemala. After the middle of the summer break-which is sure to be filled with training and some friendlies-the Americans are back at it in September.

They go to Jamaica on Friday, September 7 and then host Jamaica in a tricky home-and-home set on September 11 (they should make try to get it at Red Bull Arena, in honor of 9/11).

October is the last two games: Friday, October 12 in Antigua and then the U.S. concludes by hosting Guatemala on October 16 back in the States.

No excuses; Antigua and Guatemala have already surprised just to get this far but there is absolutely no reason that the U.S. can't win (or at least tie) all of these matches. Furthermore, they need to be in first after these six matches. Jamaica is the only semi-threat in this group.

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Gold Cup: U.S. vs. Jamaica 2nd half live blog

No halftime subs for Bob Bradley.

Jones scores in the 49th minute as his volley off a deflected header goes off a Jamaican defender and past Ricketts who had dove and was out of position. Not his fault. 1-0 U.S.

It's the first goal that Jamaica has conceded in this Gold Cup.

Wednesday's Gold Cup semifinals are at Houston's Reliant Stadium.

Jamaica hasn't impressed me at all so far today. Other than that first gift chance, they haven't looked dangerous. They seem to be lacking energy or something, where's Usain Bolt when you need him?

Damn, what a save by Ricketts on Dempsey. A ball by Cherundolo was crossed into the box and Dempsey was right by the goal but his header was stuffed. That would have been it for Jamaica.

Watson in for Vernan in the 64th minute.

Donovan in for Bedoya in the 65th minute. Great match for Bedoya, he is proving to be a valuable part of this team.

Jones gets through for a breakaway and a trip by Jermaine Taylor leads to a red card and a U.S. free kick.

U.S. offsides negates a good chance by Agudelo who goes tumbling over Ricketts.

Jamaica gets free in the box but a shot is blocked by the U.S. and deflected off Jamaica for a U.S. throw in.

Dempsey has a go on a long shot but it's stopped by Ricketts.


Jamaica's last sub, Daley on for Shelton.

Maurice Edu in for Jones in the 75th minute. Great job by Jones, his best in a U.S. jersey. He scored the only goal so far and earned the disputed red card by Jamaica.

Edu shoots wide, would have ended it for the U.S.

Haha the U.S. looks to have a 2 on 1 breakaway with Ricketts coming way off his line but they get called for an offside.

Dempsey puts it away with a sweet goal in the 79th minute from Agudelo. The cross went through a Jamaican defender's legs and Dempsey made Ricketts dive before he went around him and calmly finished. 2-0 U.S. Dempsey topped it off with the "you can't see me" celebration.

With that goal, Dempsey ties Bruce Murray (21 goals) for fifth all-time on U.S. scoring chart.

It goes without saying that this is by far the best performance by the U.S. so far in the Gold Cup.

The winner of this match gets El Salvador or Panama who play later today.

Bocanegra with a terrible giveaway right to Daley but Howard saves it from the top of the 18.

Two minutes of stoppage time.

U.S. wins one more free kick. Ricketts stops Dempsey's shot and Agudelo's half-chance on a rebound.

Final: U.S. 2, Jamaica 0

The U.S. really played well which was great to see. They needed this type of performance, badly. The U.S. advances to the semifinals on Wednesday, hope they get a rematch with Panama and that Mexico gets to the final by beating Honduras.

Things didn't look good with Donovan sitting at the start and Altidore getting hurt early but a bunch of role players and lesser known guys stood up for Bob Bradley. Jones' lucky goal seemed to get it started and Dempsey's goal was a beauty.

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Gold Cup: U.S. vs Jamaica (quarterfinal) 1st half live blog

The U.S. men's national team takes on Jamaica at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC in a Gold Cup quarterfinal match. Winner advances to the semifinals on Wednesday.

Bob Bradley's troops are wearing their red jerseys, Jamaica is in their yellow kits. The U.S. went 2-1-0 in group play while Jamaica was unbeaten at 3-0-0.

After losing to Panama, one of the worst losses in U.S. history, the U.S. beat Guadeloupe 1-0 to limp into the quarterfinals. If they play like they did in those last two games, they'll lose by a few goals to a decent Jamaican side.

U.S. starting 11:
Howard
Cherundolo, Goodson, Bocanegra, Lichaj
Bradley, Jones,
Kljestan, Dempsey, Bedoya
Altidore

Jamaica starting 11:
Ricketts in goal
Vernan, Thomas, Reid, Taylor
Austin, Morrison, Phillips,
Richards, Johnson, Shelton

Altidore wins a U.S. corner kick, the first of the match. Bedoya hits an awkward volley over; I'm happy to see the former BC star in the starting lineup though. He's earned it, he's been one of the few U.S. players to stand out in these three crappy games.

Nice, Wondolowski didn't dress today but Freddy Adu did. Thank you Bob, you finally seem to be getting it (at least a tiny bit).

Haha Jamaica gets a great chance (that looked offside by a mile) but Howard makes the initial save and then they sky it over. Can't believe that wasn't offside and that wasn't finished. Lichaj was the one beaten on the right side.

Not good at all, Altidore goes down with what looks like a hamstring injury.

Bedoya heads it back to Dempsey who's wide open and he forces a good save by Ricketts, U.S. corner.

The U.S. gets more pressure but no good shot off. However, they get another corner. Good work since Jozy left a few minutes ago and Juan Agudelo came in.

Yellow card for Jamaica for a tough challenge on Kljestan.

Cherundolo goes down with a shoulder injury but he's coming back on which is good.

Jones with an obvious trip, he gets a yellow card for his troubles. Easy call, gotta be smarter than that.

Jamaica gets loose at the top of the box but the U.S. defense clears it out. The backline looked shaky there for the U.S., almost committed a foul.

Dempsey wins a free kick from 30 yards out and forces a decent save over the bar by Ricketts. U.S. corner but they don't do anything with it.

Good run by Jones gives the U.S. another corner, gotta make the most of these.

Jamaica counterattacks off the U.S. corner but the final shot is an easy save for Howard.

Kljestan hits a top-spin shot that Ricketts knocks out for a corner. Bicycle kick by Dempsey over the net.

Bedoya with a snap header wide, good work by him and Kljestan.

Agudelo takes a long shot that's stopped and Jones has a chance on the rebound but he can't square it up and it goes out for a goal kick.

Great thru ball from Bradley to Lichaj but Ricketts makes a diving save and holds on to it.


Halftime: U.S. 0, Jamaica 0

Feels like the U.S. should be up by a goal or two but Jamaica did have that one ridiculous chance that they somehow didn't score on. U.S. is carrying the play and controlling possession. Keep playing like this and a goal or two will come although Ricketts (LA Galaxy) is a quality goalkeeper.

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