2019 Gold Cup
The long road of redemption for the US Men’s National Team was stopped on Sunday by a goal from Jonathan Dos Santos. The Mexicans scored the sole goal of the Final and lift the Gold Cup trophy for the 7th time.
Dominant first half
The US were the best team during the first half and created several big opportunities with Pulisic and Altidore in the first 10 minutes. They should have had the lead at the break but Mexico did resist well. The Mexican coach Tata Martino made some adjustments at the half and out-coached his opponent. The Mexican found the net once and did not give much of a chance to the Americans, except on the header saved by Guardado.
The USMNT were right there tonight after delivering a strong display against Jamaica in the semifinal [3-1]. They lacked efficiency in the perimeter and did not capitalize when they have a momentum. It is overall a learning experience for team that still to prove a lot more before fans are convinced and support them fully. Last night in Chicago, not one for being a Latino city, Mexicans showed up massively to the stadium and felt more like a home game for them. That is embarrassing.
Coach Berhalter makes his assessment post-game:
“I think that when you talk about a step the team needs to take, we’re close but we weren’t there tonight.
I think we made good progress. Any time you get an extended period of time together you [want to] use it in the best way possible and I thought we did that.
When we started in camp, we put up a date saying July 7 and I told the guys ‘listen, this when we’re going to play to. This is what we’re gonna go through together.”
