The second round of matches being held from Group A of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup will take place at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA. Klinsmann had this to say about Honduras: “We expect a nasty game and an aggressive and hard game” and “We definitely have to step it up”.
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Haiti’s best chance of the half came moments later – James Marcelin lashing an effort from range that had 2013 Gold Cup goalkeeper of the tournament Jaime Penedo beaten, only for the ball to fly just over the crossbar. In the most likely scenario – which assumes everybody wins their groups – the Americans would face Costa Rica in the semifinals and, should they survive that, Mexico in the final.
Interestingly, German head coach Winfried Schafer has named 17 of the players in his squad that also recently participated at the Copa America. “I think we turned the ball over quite easily too many times and maybe put ourselves under some undo pressure”.
There have previously been 12 editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup and either the US or Mexico have lifted the trophy on 11 of these occasions. Their best performance in the past were two runners-up finishes back in 2005 and 2013.
“Mikey’s a natural leader”, said goalkeeper Brad Guzan, starting while Tim Howard is on a break from the national team. Of the four teams in the group, the United States is the highest ranked according to the latest FIFA/Coca Cola rankings at #27. “He understands what playing for the national team’s all about”.
Navas, who gave up just only two goals and had three shutouts at the World Cup, has tendinitis in his right heel and will not play in the tournament. But after the World Cup, Timmy went on sabbatical from worldwide play. He’s definitely a capable keeper, manning the nets for English Premier League Club Aston Villa as the starter the last three seasons (seven seasons total at Villa). He had a couple good showings for the USA recently, especially the game against the Dutch. If the Americans win, they will have an automatic berth into the 2017 Confederations Cup.
The visitors’ pressing was causing U.S. problems with both Lozano and Alfredo Mejia failing to hit the target after winning possession from consecutive goal kicks, while in first-half stoppage time, Escober came out of his box to intercept a pass to Dempsey before Honduras surged only for Najar to shoot over the bar. While Zusi was less than spectacular, Yedlin and his pace created a number of chances going forward.
The next three weeks will be critical for the future of U.S. soccer.
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American fans have historically been able to rely on the Gold Cup to make them feel good about their program and, perhaps as a proxy, the progress of soccer in their country.
