The U.S. Women Survived Penalty Kicks Against The Netherlands To Reach The Olympic Semis

 

    With the huge time difference meaning that most games are happening live in the middle of the night back in America, it's been hard to get into the Tokyo Olympics however leave it to the USWNT to make it way more interesting and exciting. This morning (our time), they outlasted the Netherlands 4-2 in penalty kicks to reach the Olympic semifinals for the sixth time in their last seven chances. It sounds odd saying it since she allowed two goals in regulation but the USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was the player of the match as she stopped what would have been a go-ahead penalty kick late in regulation then she topped that with two more saves in the shootout. Midfielder Samantha Mewis-my Massachusetts Olympic hero-and forward Lynn Williams each had a goal and an assist for the U.S. who advance to face Canada on Monday (4 am, USA Network) in the semifinals. 

    It's been a little over two years since these same countries faced off in the 2019 World Cup Final which you'll remember was captured 2-0 by the U.S. in Lyon, France. The Netherlands must be wondering what they have to do to beat the U.S. (who improved to 8-1-1 all-time against the Dutch as this match was recorded as a tie) who have looked vulnerable in this tournament with a shocking 3-0 loss to Sweden in the opener along with a scoreless draw with Australia to close out the group stage. If we know anything about this team though, they typically perform their best when the stakes are the highest. The Netherlands led 1-0 in the 18th minute as their excellent forward Vivianne Miedema-the leading goal-scorer in these Olympic Games-made the Americans pay for a failed clearance out of the box. It didn't take long for the U.S. to respond as Williams served a low cross that Mewis dove to head into the net for his first career Olympic goal in the 28th minute. 

    Things started rolling for the U.S. as they took a 2-1 lead just three minutes later when Mewis won a header in the box following a U.S. corner and Williams was able to volley in her first Olympic goal as well. The USWNT took that 2-1 lead into halftime but the Dutch (specifically Miedema) would not go home quietly as she tied it in 54th minute with a long-range blast from beyond the arc for her 10th goal of the tournament which is an amazing number in only four matches. U.S. defender Kelly O'Hara almost made a fatal mistake as her harsh foul in the box led to a penalty kick for the Netherlands in the 80th minute that would have put them ahead 3-2. Luckily, Naeher was up to the task to rescue her teammate and save the shot by another lethal Dutch forward Lieke Martens.   

    It is hard to explain why but the U.S. has had a crazy amount of goals called back (nine total including four today!) due to being called offside in these Olympics. There is VAR and I'm sure the American coaches have been hammering this point over and over but ultimately it's up to the players to adjust to it and find ways not to have that happen so often. To make them feel better, the Netherlands had a header goal called offside in the first period of extra time while American forwards Christen Press and Alex Morgan (who oddly enough both came off the bench in the second half) each had a goal called back for the same reason in the second period of extra time. Good grief, enough of that!

    Naeher immediately made a statement in the shootout since the Netherlands went first and she dove to her right to save Miedema's shot. All four U.S. shooters (Rose Lavelle, Morgan, Press and Megan Rapinoe) scored and after Naeher made another huge stop on Aniek Nouwen, Rapinoe was fittingly there to blast home the game-winner. The USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski improved to 23-1-3 in his first 27 matches in charge and I'm not saying it would have (or should have) happened but if his team had lost this game, there would have been serious discussions about him getting fired after the USWNT went out in the quarterfinals in the Olympics (which happened to the last head coach Jill Ellis in 2016 vs. Sweden in PKs) for the second time in a row. Instead, they will be favored to beat Canada (remember their epic 4-3 semifinal win vs. the Canadians in the 2012 Olympics?) and get to the Final where they would meet either Sweden or Australia.

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Zardes & Turner Push The USMNT Past Qatar 1-0 & Through To The 2021 Gold Cup Final Vs. Mexico

 

    The 2021 Gold Cup could not have dreamed of a better possible matchup in the final on Sunday night (9, FS1) in Las Vegas as this evening, the U.S. survived a major challenge from Qatar 1-0 at Austin's Q2 Stadium in the semifinals while Mexico got an extremely late stoppage time game-winner (in the 99th minute!) to defeat Canada 2-1 in Houston. It is not like the USMNT and Mexico haven't played each other in a long time (you'll recall that the Americans defeated the Mexicans 3-2 in extra time of the fantastic Nations League Final on June 6) but regardless, it is always a treat when two of the great rivals in international soccer get together especially with a trophy or something important to play for. 

    If you have been paying close attention to this Gold Cup or even casually following the USMNT, you will notice that this followed a very familiar script since four of their five matches (all wins by the way) have been 1-0 results. That means that New England Revolution goalkeeper (how much longer can we say that with these type of performances?) Matt Turner (3 saves) recorded another clean sheet-his fourth of the tournament-along with man of the match honors while substitute forward Gyasi Zardes notched the lone goal in the 86th minute. You probably wouldn't believe me unless you were watching it yourself but Qatar had the best scoring chances of the game (aside from Zardes' goal, obviously): Turner made a pair of unbelievable reaction stops-one off a deflection and another on a beautiful volley-in the first half and he lucked out as midfielder Hasan Al Haydos chipped a penalty kick just over the crossbar in the 61st minute.

    The goal was a pretty one as forward Nicholas Gioacchini (who had just entered in the 81st minute) turned a few Qatar defenders around before serving a perfect pass on the ground for Zardes to run onto and poke in with the toe of his cleat before he was swarmed by the goalkeeper and defense. It is no wonder that the U.S. will meet Mexico in another Gold Cup final since these two countries by far have had the most success in the tournament over the years. This will be the record 12th Gold Cup final appearance for the Americans while they aim for their seventh title; the Mexicans have won eight Gold Cups in nine appearances in the final. Mexico beat the U.S. 1-0 in the most recent edition (2019) while the Americans' last crown was in 2017 vs. Jamaica (2-1). No matter if you are a bandwagon USMNT fan or a hardcore like myself, all are welcome on Sunday in what should be an incredible atmosphere at Allegiant Stadium (home of the Raiders) which has a capacity of 65,000 people.

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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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USMNT Beat Canada 1-0 To Finish Atop Group B & Advance To The Gold Cup Quarterfinals

 

    On the one hand, I cannot blame you for not paying much attention to the 2021 Gold Cup which is a joke compared to the recently completed Euro 2020 or Copa America. Then again, what the hell else is there to watch in this super boring time of the sports summer? After beating mighty Haiti and Martinique earlier in the week, the US men's national team finally faced a half decent opponent this afternoon at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City. Midfielder Shaq Moore scored his first career goal 20 seconds into the match (a modern USMNT and Gold Cup record for the fastest opening goal) and goalkeeper Matt Turner made three saves for the clean sheet as the U.S. held off Canada 1-0 to finish first in Group B. From here on out, they will likely only see other quality opponents as they proceed to the quarterfinals next Sunday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (aka the home of the Dallas Cowboys) where they meet either Costa Rica or Jamaica. 

    As you can probably guess from the aforementioned names, this is far from the A-team for the USMNT. It is basically the American MLS All-Stars with a few other random guys sprinkled in, minus all the top players that compete for European clubs. Still, guys like Moore and Turner are perfect examples of younger players that are fighting like hell to earn a spot on the top roster as they continue World Cup qualifying this fall in hopes of making it to Qatar next November for the 2022 World Cup (that will never sound right). Today's match was one of those classic soccer games where if you only saw the first few minutes, you really didn't miss anything else that was notable. The Americans hit the Canadians with a quick opening strike and Canada (2-1-0) never really had a proper response but they also advance to the quarterfinals since they finished a close second in Group B. 

    Thankfully for a match that was devoid of too many highlights or interesting moments, Moore's goal was awesome. Midfielder Kellyn Acosta won the ball in the center of the field and served it out wide to midfielder Sebastian Lletget who one-timed a dime of a low cross to Moore at the far post who tapped it in. Besides Moore, Turner was the other real standout for the USMNT as the New England Revolution star (arguably the best goalkeeper in MLS these days) continued his rapid rise. He stuffed Revs teammate Tajon Buchanan and also made a diving stop on dangerous Canadian striker Cyle Larin. Zach Steffen plays at Manchester City so he obviously will be the USMNT's starting goalkeeper for a long time but there is no clear backup behind him so Turner-who has started and won all three of these Gold Cup matches-could very well be that guy. 

    From an American perspective, the only bad news from the day was that captain Walker Zimmerman had to leave in the 15th minute after picking up an early injury from a rough challenge. With this group, he's probably the best American defender so hopefully it was nothing too serious and he can return to action on Sunday in the knockout round. The margin for error with this version of the USMNT is pretty small so while they have the ability to win the Gold Cup, they could likewise get upset by their next opponent. That unpredictability makes this tournament more watchable than it has any right to be. With most major soccer tournaments, there are only a handful of teams that can truly go all the way but with wacky CONCACAF (and a few invited guests), anything can happen this summer.

UPDATE 7/20: Zimmerman has been ruled out for the rest of the Gold Cup with a hamstring injury; Earthquakes forward Cade Cowell & Revolution defender Henry Kessler will join the USMNT for training tomorrow. Also, Costa Rica just beat Jamaica 1-0 to win Group C meaning that the U.S. will face Jamaica on Sunday night (9, FS1) while Canada gets Costa Rica (7, FS1) before them on Sunday night in the quarterfinals. 

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The USMNT & Mexico Staged An Instant Classic In The First-Ever Concacaf Nations League Final

 

    Tonight's 2021 Concacaf Nations League Final pitting the U.S. men vs. their archrival Mexico in Denver's Empower Field at Mile High, was further proof that you could put these two teams in any almost venue and/or match situation and they will probably produce something wildly entertaining. This was the first time this mini-tournament had ever been held and it turned out to be a very memorable one as the USMNT defeated Mexico 3-2 in extra time. The three top American attacking players of this new era-Giovanni Reyna, Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic-fittingly all scored goals while backup goalkeeper Ethan Horvath (a complete unknown to everyone but the most hardcore U.S. fan) was an unexpected hero after he came on following Zack Steffen's non-contact knee injury (yikes). 

    There was some awful defending right from the start by the host Americans as fullback Mark McKenzie (who is normally a forward) gave the ball away to Jesus Corona less than a minute into the match and the Mexican forward blasted a shot over Steffen's shoulder for a shocking 1-0 lead. The U.S. settled down and eventually tied it at one in the 27th minute as McKennie's header went off the crossbar allowing Reyna to get an easy tap-in when the Mexican backline was slow to react to the loose ball. It was 1-1 at halftime and stayed that way for much of the second half before everything went crazy. Steffen left the field in the 69th minute after he appeared to tweak something in his knee when he was about to do a drop kick. Yeesh, hopefully it's not too serious since he is firmly entrenched as the No. 1 American goalkeeper for the near future. However, Horvath who is from Colorado and plays at Club Brugge in Belgium was very impressive in such a tough spot. He did allow the go-ahead goal 10 minutes later but it could hardly be deemed his fault as some lazy marking by the U.S. defense allowed Mexican forward Diego Lainez to receive a cross at his feet and calmly put it in the net. 

    McKennie was named the best player of the tournament & the man of the match for a reason since he was dangerous all night on headers. In fact, he tied it up three minutes later with Reyna hitting a corner kick which the young Juventus midfielder was able to knock past Mexico's goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. It was 2-2 at the end of regulation and the score remained the same after the first 15 minutes of extra time. In the second half of extra time, Pulisic was taken down in the box by Mexican defender Carlos Salcedo in the 109th minute. VAR checked it and it held up allowing Pulisic to blast his penalty kick to the upper right corner in the 114th minute. McKenzie's nightmare outing continued as he was whistled for a handball in the box in the 119th minute. That ruling was also reviewed by VAR and stood up. However, Horvath bailed out his teammate in spectacular fashion by making a diving stop on Mexico's midfielder Andres Guardado's (who had subbed in earlier) penalty kick in the 124th minute. The U.S. had to sweat out seven (!) more minutes of stoppage time but they somehow managed to survive it for the thrilling victory which gave them their first trophy in ages.

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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. 

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Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) Became The First American To Appear In A Champions League Final

 

    The USMNT still has a ways to go but today was a special moment as its brightest star-Christian Pulisic-became the first American to ever appear in a Champions League Final as Chelsea blanked its Premier League rival Manchester City 1-0 to win its second Champions League title in club history. The 22-year-old from Hershey, PA subbed in for striker Timo Werner in the 66th minute and just missed scoring the insurance goal that would have put Chelsea up 2-0 on the favored Manchester City who won the Premier League this season. In 24 minutes of action off the bench, Pulisic had 19 touches of the ball and made 16 passes while recording one shot. He capped off an up-and-down season personally in the best possible way, as a legitimate contributor to the top club team in the world. 

    In 10 Champions League games this season (which included four starts), Pulisic had two goals and two assists. In 27 Premier League appearances in 2020-21 (18 starts), he had four goals and two assists. He also played in six FA Cup matches (three starts) and two USMNT friendlies where he added a goal in two starts. It's been a very busy stretch for Pulisic who battled a hamstring injury and saw his former manager at Chelsea-Frank Lampard-get fired and be replaced by his old Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel. It's easy to get caught up in the frustrating aspects but the bottom line is that there he was smiling from ear-to-ear and lifting the Champions League trophy this afternoon in Porto with his Chelsea teammates so that had to make all the hard times well worth it. 

    For the record, he wasn't the only American there either as Manchester City's backup goalkeeper for most of the season was Zack Steffen-another native of Pennsylvania. He was understandably stuck behind City's star Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson but the 26-year-old still managed to get in the occasional starts in the League Cup, the FA Cup, some USMNT friendlies, the Premier League and the Champions League in this past campaign. This is a guy who was in MLS just a few years ago so I'd say that his future also looks very bright considering how far he's come in his career. More than anything with the next World Cup coming up in 2022, seeing Pulisic and Steffen as key parts of two of the best club teams in the world, as a fan of the USMNT you have to be psyched about the future with so many talented players scattered all around the world.

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