Gold Cup 2017: 6th title for the USA!
Thanks to a 2-1 win over Jamaica at Levi’s Stadium United States of America clinched their sixth Gold Cup trophy. Mexico failed to defend their title, whilst Canada played below expectations at the 2017 CONCACAF championship.
United States of America were desperate to regain the Gold Cup trophy, but they did not kick-off their campaign in style, with the team sharing the spoils with Panama in their opener. Coach Bruce Arena did not count on star players for the group games, but thanks to back-to-back wins over Martinique and Nicaragua the Yanks booked their place in the Gold Cup quarter-finals.
With the likes of Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley in the starting XI Bruce Arena’s troops faced no difficulties in a 2-0 win over El Salvador and, to make things even better for the fans, USA outplayed Costa Rica in the semis of the tournament.
United States of America were regarded as hot favourites to win the title game against Jamaica, but the match against Reggae Boyz was anything but a walk in the park for the hosts. Jozy Altidore broke the deadlock at the stroke of half-time, but five minutes into the second half Jamaica scored the equalizer (Je-Vaughn Watson). The match was on the verge of going into extra-time, but Jordan Morris eventually scored a dramatic late winner for Bruce Arena’s team and helped the Yanks win their sixth Gold Cup trophy.
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio decided to count on Liga MX-based players for the 2017 Gold Cup and, as a result, El Tri failed to defend their trophy. El Tri did well to beat El Salvador in the opening match of their Gold Cup campaign, but they were hold to a goalless draw by Jamaica in their second group game. As expected, the Mexicans defeated Curacao in their final group game and, as a result, they set up a meeting with Honduras in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
Rodolfo Pizarro scored the only goal of the match, but El Tri were not at their sharpest in the victory over Honduras. Despite being considered favourites on paper to win the semi-final against Jamaica, Mexico suffered a shocking loss to the Reggae Boyz at Rose Bowl and it has to be said that Juan Carlos Osorio’s men did not deserve to win the trophy at the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Even though many people expected that Canada would play an important role at the 2017 Gold Cup, les Rouges were beaten by Jamaica in the quarter-finals of the tournament, but it has to be noted that rising star Alphonso Davies won the Golden Boot Award. Costa Rica made it to the semis, but United States of America proved to be a big catch for los Ticos in the AT&T Stadium clash. However, it has to be noted that key player Joel Campbell was forced to miss the match with a knee injury. Panama (quarter-finals) could have recorded a better result at the tournament as well, but, taking everything, USA totally deserved to win the prestigious title.
