well that's good to hear, after all it was a friendly and many players that will be in the rotation soon were not involved. excited for the match tonight.
The Official US Soccer thread
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I watched the match last night. Overall US deserved the victory, although Honduras had about 2-3 clear chances at a goal. Honduras sat back and settled for counter attacks and allowed the US defenders to push fwd. John Brooks ended up being the MOM for me, he was an 8/10 defensively and showcased impressive possession and passing. his chip pass setup the impressive goal. I really was impressed by Brooks skill and think he can be a force for this team if he is allowed to play out of the back and press forward. The game should have been over early. Reyna had some very impressive runs and was the most threatening attacker. he unlocked the Honduran defense 2 or 3 times straight away, but he missed some good looks at goal. Sergeant was active, but did not really impact the attack or have much on the ball. he put a good header, from a nice Robinson cross, right at the keeper. Sergeant also saved a goal. Honduras could have won the match due to a terrible decision by Steffan, thankfully Sergeant cleared the ball off the line somehow with the back of his head. Overall a lot of possession for the US, but sloppy and lethargic play derailed chances to score more goals.
gmabel830
It's football season!!
What a fantastic game and win over Mexico in the final!!!
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MigratingOsprey
Thank You Paul!
The type of gritty, sloppy, emotional have they'll need to be able to win come qualifying.
I'm still not sold on the coaching and tactics and there are some glaring concerns, but I like the mentality and make-up of this group and it should only improve
xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media
indeed, the best USMNT match I've seen in years, maybe since the 2014 World Cup win they beat Ghana and upset Portugal with a draw. but for perspective the performance had a lot to it and a lot that I want to comment on when I get a few mins. but with all of that a dark cloud for me overshadowed the match.
The Mexico supporters were beyond terrible and something needs to be done about it. they put the players in danger. If FIFA thanks that the homophobic chants are strong enough to stop a match, then they need to take actions against the supporters who are throwing things onto the pitch. For me Mexico should be forced to play a a WC qualifying match without supporters. that might be the only thing that can change their culture which is extremely out dated.
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Yeah, the fact there wasn't a bigger police presence was stunning - having going to US/Mexico games myself, the bottle throwing and fights and bad behavior are par for the course.
First of all, that should not happen in any country, but especially in the United States in 2021. We were up in arms about the NBA arena problems, but this made those look like a formal church service. I wonder if anyone cares in the USA sports world, because hey its just soccer.
Stadiums and other money making machines are happy to take the money from the Mexico supporter, but they are not taking accountability for security. If the United States are not going to protect its fans and players, and it goes for both nations players and fans, then they need to be punished as well. Maybe the United States needs to play without fans if they are not going to hold stadium security to account for their inaction. For me the match should have been called after Pulisic's goal for the repetitive foul behavior.
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Indeed, the fact that Reyna got skulled by a water bottle would be headline news anywhere else in the football world, and gets the collective shrug here.
yeah in foreign football nations, away supporters get barriers and there is security, even police security, if there is a threat of violence. that is a minimum. that is why away supporters are separated from the home supporters. Now in the USA you get this weird situation because Mexico is really the home team if you want to be real, and it is tolerated because people in the USA are making money off of it. I would cap the Mexico supporters at a few thousand or less, and put them in their own section away from the pitch where possible. if the rest of the seats are empty too bad. that's what should happen. If you are a new American supporter, why would you want to go to a match to get mixed up in that.
so for the match. Warning, my USA kool aid is being taken it at massive levels right now. but I've sat through about 6 years of disappointment, so it's ok.
Wow, a bit of everything is the perfect description. that was maybe the best USA vs Mexico back and forth match I've ever seen. Obviously the gold cup late 2000s finals were pretty good as well. The 2002 WC was also a great result where our team mostly sat back and played for the counter, and that USA team was underrated to some degree on the international stage. that team was on the verge of making a WC semi final...but that WC USA/MEX match was not nearly as entertaining for me in comparison if you take the WC setting out of it.
this was crazy. for me the USA played Mexico out of the back more than I can ever recall. For me that is such a great sight for sore eyes, because in the modern game you have to play out of the back to be a winner. they put pressure on Mexican players when Mexico had the ball, rather than ball watching for 90+ mins. that is another positive sign. the most positive sign of all is that that they had 15 or more players that all had very positive moments that caused the victory. McKenzie had the worst start in USA history and he somehow responded to that and gutted out a positive performance. Of corse there is a lot of Kool Aid in my veins right now, but I can't remember a more positive moment for this team. the most important conclusion for me is that their average age is what...23? and they went toe to toe with Mexico's top players in a final. they never backed down from any difficult moment. they even were waving at the fans as to tell them to keep throwing your beer, we are still going to beat your A#$! I would say that the gap is closing ahead of schedule. what a time to be alive!
Wow, a bit of everything is the perfect description. that was maybe the best USA vs Mexico back and forth match I've ever seen. Obviously the gold cup late 2000s finals were pretty good as well. The 2002 WC was also a great result where our team mostly sat back and played for the counter, and that USA team was underrated to some degree on the international stage. that team was on the verge of making a WC semi final...but that WC USA/MEX match was not nearly as entertaining for me in comparison if you take the WC setting out of it.
this was crazy. for me the USA played Mexico out of the back more than I can ever recall. For me that is such a great sight for sore eyes, because in the modern game you have to play out of the back to be a winner. they put pressure on Mexican players when Mexico had the ball, rather than ball watching for 90+ mins. that is another positive sign. the most positive sign of all is that that they had 15 or more players that all had very positive moments that caused the victory. McKenzie had the worst start in USA history and he somehow responded to that and gutted out a positive performance. Of corse there is a lot of Kool Aid in my veins right now, but I can't remember a more positive moment for this team. the most important conclusion for me is that their average age is what...23? and they went toe to toe with Mexico's top players in a final. they never backed down from any difficult moment. they even were waving at the fans as to tell them to keep throwing your beer, we are still going to beat your A#$! I would say that the gap is closing ahead of schedule. what a time to be alive!
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Here our my USA player ratings.
McKennie is the clear MOTM for me. 9/10 only not a 10/10 because he missed a couple of would be goals and he was slow to react to the offside goal that was called off. hell of a performance for 120 mins. he was everywhere. he caused 2 of the 3 goals and came close to scoring 2 others. He may have had a chance to play Sargent through for a goal, but he opted to shoot and almost scored. he was physical, he was aggressive, he had a lot of 50/50 challenges in the midfield, and he was in every scuffle as to let the other players know that they would have to go through him first.
Horvath...8/10 for me. this game could have turned sideways when Steffen left the match. yet Horvath made 2 exceptional saves and was solid on a few other shots Mexico put on target. the penalty save was incredible. to be fair Guardado was conservative and looked like he mis hit the shot. Can't fault Horvath for the second Mexico goal. he was slow to react, but he was screened by 3 of his own players. I fault Ream for getting beat and Acosta for ball watching. Horvath had one bad distro on a goal kick that led to goal scoring chance.
Reyna, 7/10. he was dangerous with the ball. He scored a big goal and almost hit Sargent's foot on a good pass across the face of the goal. he too like McKennie was everywhere. how many times did he track back to kill a Mexican counter attack? some of those back tracks were late in the match. what a gutsy kid. he also dropped back several times to help play out of the back. and he had a great corner that hit McKennie on the far post for the second goal. I can't say enough about the kid. wow.
Brooks, 6.5/10. He was solid all game. Vocal leader and other than the one offside goal that Mexico had called back, I don't think that he had any other potential fatal errors. He did have one really bad pass that turned the ball over to a counter that luckily did not hurt them, I think Mexico ended up being offside. Brooks also did well to help play out of the back. Mexico had trouble with him on corners on both sides of the pitch, which I think actually opened it up some for McKennie.
Pulisic, 6/10 he wasn't on the ball enough for me. He also lost possession more than he should, mostly in the first half. Also had a couple fouls that were not given, but I guess that's just going to be what it is for him because defenders will always refuse to give him space given what he does when he goes forward. as the match went on you could kind of see him trending in the right direction. He started to get his feet under him and quietly had a couple of trademark threatening runs in the final third. His corners were on point. And his penalty. some are being critical of his flop. so for me yes he felt the contact and went down. I watch a lot of PL. guess what the top players do. they feel the contact, if they can't score, they are going down to make the referee choose. Like it or not, that is the game and everyone knows it, including the Mexican manager that expelled himself before the VAR check was complete because even he knew it was a penalty. it was clumsy by the Mexican defender. the ball was either going out for a goal kick, or a corner, which the latter would have led to a McKennie brace anyway
Timothy Weah, 6/10, you could tell he was on the pitch. he had several positive moments that led to goal scoring opportunities. It seemed like every time he got the ball he did something positive.
Deadre Yedlin, 6/10, not spectacular, but he was solid. he made a hell of a tackle late in the game that denied a counter attack and salvaged some time. he was also positive going forward. there was a weird mile high bounce that screwed him out of a goal scoring opportunity going forward. I'm guessing the pitch was not the best. that is something that needs to be figured out before the 2026 World Cup or that will be more of a talking point from the players than the poor working conditions that stadium builders are facing in Qatar. Yedlin also had a great throw in that led to the corner that produced the equalizer IIRC.
Kellyn Acosta, 5/10, he has improved for me. He was all over the pitch. he was critical in defending and moving the ball out of the back. He was slow to react on the second Mexico goal. Needs to be more involved moving forward in the attack, but I imagine that was not within his scope in this match.
Tyler Adams, did not see enough mins for him, but he appeared to be solid. He had one bad turnover IIRC.
Sergio Dest, 4/10, so for me he did a lot of dirty work on his side and was well defended. he had some positive moments, but like Pulisic he also lost possession a lot. the positive is he was aggressive and kept going at it with the ball. Negative is that he looked lethargic at times and had one or two poor turnovers where he completely missed the mark. I think in time his chemistry with the team will develop and he will create goals. He and yedlin/other fullbacks need a solid center back pairing so that they can move forward in the attack without fear.
Josh Sargent, 4/10, still need more from him. He had 3 goal scoring chances where he was just a little off balance. Overall I think he is still one of their best forwards, but he needs to score and link more with the other players.
McKenzie, 5/10, terrible mistake in the start of the match. Maybe could be scored lower due to his terrible mistake that on most days would have been ball game, but he didn't collapse. he stuck it out and Mexico were clearly gunning for him. he had several 50/50 challenges that he got right. He also blocked a shot late that may have saved a goal. he had the hand ball that was a difficult one. Was a penalty by the letter of the law, but hard to fault him with how close he was. I guess it's only fair Mexico got a penalty for that after the one was given to the USA.
Steffen 5/10. didn't see enough from him. can't really fault him for the first goal. He did have one hell of a save that robbed Lozano of a walk in goal. it wasn't a bad effort by Lozano, just a better save by Steffen. Steffen doesn't look confident distributing the ball out of the back. this could be due to the fact he is not getting reps. I think it's clear to say he needs to leave M.City so that he can play more.
Tim Ream 3/10, he looked flat footed to often. Got schooled on the 2nd Mexico goal and had a few times that he was just dead in the water in one on one situations. He gives you something with playing the ball out of the back at times, but I can't see him being a viable option on a winning USMNT squad. If USA is ever going to be an attacking side that plays on the front foot, they have to have defenders that can be trusted to come forward and win one on one battles in the back of the pitch.
MEXICAN Players:
Not gonna rate all of them. Overall they played really well and were dangerous going forward. they really were quick to capitalize on most USA mistakes. But their defense of corners were terrible. It seemed like every USA corner was a near goal. the penalty on Pulisic was careless.
LOZANO, 7/10, he was Mexico's best player for the entirety of the match. he was so dangerous with the ball at his feet. he had 3-4 quality efforts, he just hit them too close to the keeper.
Lainez, 8/10, exceptional goal, made Tim Ream and Acosta look so bad. great finish. Like Tim Weah for the USA, he changed the match when he came on. but he had much of a greater impact in his time on the pitch than any other Mexican player.
McKennie is the clear MOTM for me. 9/10 only not a 10/10 because he missed a couple of would be goals and he was slow to react to the offside goal that was called off. hell of a performance for 120 mins. he was everywhere. he caused 2 of the 3 goals and came close to scoring 2 others. He may have had a chance to play Sargent through for a goal, but he opted to shoot and almost scored. he was physical, he was aggressive, he had a lot of 50/50 challenges in the midfield, and he was in every scuffle as to let the other players know that they would have to go through him first.
Horvath...8/10 for me. this game could have turned sideways when Steffen left the match. yet Horvath made 2 exceptional saves and was solid on a few other shots Mexico put on target. the penalty save was incredible. to be fair Guardado was conservative and looked like he mis hit the shot. Can't fault Horvath for the second Mexico goal. he was slow to react, but he was screened by 3 of his own players. I fault Ream for getting beat and Acosta for ball watching. Horvath had one bad distro on a goal kick that led to goal scoring chance.
Reyna, 7/10. he was dangerous with the ball. He scored a big goal and almost hit Sargent's foot on a good pass across the face of the goal. he too like McKennie was everywhere. how many times did he track back to kill a Mexican counter attack? some of those back tracks were late in the match. what a gutsy kid. he also dropped back several times to help play out of the back. and he had a great corner that hit McKennie on the far post for the second goal. I can't say enough about the kid. wow.
Brooks, 6.5/10. He was solid all game. Vocal leader and other than the one offside goal that Mexico had called back, I don't think that he had any other potential fatal errors. He did have one really bad pass that turned the ball over to a counter that luckily did not hurt them, I think Mexico ended up being offside. Brooks also did well to help play out of the back. Mexico had trouble with him on corners on both sides of the pitch, which I think actually opened it up some for McKennie.
Pulisic, 6/10 he wasn't on the ball enough for me. He also lost possession more than he should, mostly in the first half. Also had a couple fouls that were not given, but I guess that's just going to be what it is for him because defenders will always refuse to give him space given what he does when he goes forward. as the match went on you could kind of see him trending in the right direction. He started to get his feet under him and quietly had a couple of trademark threatening runs in the final third. His corners were on point. And his penalty. some are being critical of his flop. so for me yes he felt the contact and went down. I watch a lot of PL. guess what the top players do. they feel the contact, if they can't score, they are going down to make the referee choose. Like it or not, that is the game and everyone knows it, including the Mexican manager that expelled himself before the VAR check was complete because even he knew it was a penalty. it was clumsy by the Mexican defender. the ball was either going out for a goal kick, or a corner, which the latter would have led to a McKennie brace anyway
Timothy Weah, 6/10, you could tell he was on the pitch. he had several positive moments that led to goal scoring opportunities. It seemed like every time he got the ball he did something positive.
Deadre Yedlin, 6/10, not spectacular, but he was solid. he made a hell of a tackle late in the game that denied a counter attack and salvaged some time. he was also positive going forward. there was a weird mile high bounce that screwed him out of a goal scoring opportunity going forward. I'm guessing the pitch was not the best. that is something that needs to be figured out before the 2026 World Cup or that will be more of a talking point from the players than the poor working conditions that stadium builders are facing in Qatar. Yedlin also had a great throw in that led to the corner that produced the equalizer IIRC.
Kellyn Acosta, 5/10, he has improved for me. He was all over the pitch. he was critical in defending and moving the ball out of the back. He was slow to react on the second Mexico goal. Needs to be more involved moving forward in the attack, but I imagine that was not within his scope in this match.
Tyler Adams, did not see enough mins for him, but he appeared to be solid. He had one bad turnover IIRC.
Sergio Dest, 4/10, so for me he did a lot of dirty work on his side and was well defended. he had some positive moments, but like Pulisic he also lost possession a lot. the positive is he was aggressive and kept going at it with the ball. Negative is that he looked lethargic at times and had one or two poor turnovers where he completely missed the mark. I think in time his chemistry with the team will develop and he will create goals. He and yedlin/other fullbacks need a solid center back pairing so that they can move forward in the attack without fear.
Josh Sargent, 4/10, still need more from him. He had 3 goal scoring chances where he was just a little off balance. Overall I think he is still one of their best forwards, but he needs to score and link more with the other players.
McKenzie, 5/10, terrible mistake in the start of the match. Maybe could be scored lower due to his terrible mistake that on most days would have been ball game, but he didn't collapse. he stuck it out and Mexico were clearly gunning for him. he had several 50/50 challenges that he got right. He also blocked a shot late that may have saved a goal. he had the hand ball that was a difficult one. Was a penalty by the letter of the law, but hard to fault him with how close he was. I guess it's only fair Mexico got a penalty for that after the one was given to the USA.
Steffen 5/10. didn't see enough from him. can't really fault him for the first goal. He did have one hell of a save that robbed Lozano of a walk in goal. it wasn't a bad effort by Lozano, just a better save by Steffen. Steffen doesn't look confident distributing the ball out of the back. this could be due to the fact he is not getting reps. I think it's clear to say he needs to leave M.City so that he can play more.
Tim Ream 3/10, he looked flat footed to often. Got schooled on the 2nd Mexico goal and had a few times that he was just dead in the water in one on one situations. He gives you something with playing the ball out of the back at times, but I can't see him being a viable option on a winning USMNT squad. If USA is ever going to be an attacking side that plays on the front foot, they have to have defenders that can be trusted to come forward and win one on one battles in the back of the pitch.
MEXICAN Players:
Not gonna rate all of them. Overall they played really well and were dangerous going forward. they really were quick to capitalize on most USA mistakes. But their defense of corners were terrible. It seemed like every USA corner was a near goal. the penalty on Pulisic was careless.
LOZANO, 7/10, he was Mexico's best player for the entirety of the match. he was so dangerous with the ball at his feet. he had 3-4 quality efforts, he just hit them too close to the keeper.
Lainez, 8/10, exceptional goal, made Tim Ream and Acosta look so bad. great finish. Like Tim Weah for the USA, he changed the match when he came on. but he had much of a greater impact in his time on the pitch than any other Mexican player.
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Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Mexico fans getting punished, and deservedly so:
https://sports.yahoo.com/mexico-wor...mophobic-chant-fifa-punishment-164011562.html
https://sports.yahoo.com/mexico-wor...mophobic-chant-fifa-punishment-164011562.html
thank you...and if I read that correctly, this doesn't even include any punishment from the US/Mex or US/Costa Rica matches from the nations league? Hopefully they get the message, but if not they are going to wind up playing WCQ matches at home with no fans.
gold cup is coming up soon. I'm interested to see how the US players who get called into the team look. one player I really enjoy watching is Daryl DEEKAY. I hope he has a good tournament. He really did well at Barnsley. Although the US seems to be stacked at forward, I could see him earning a spot on the first team for World Cup qualifiers. I still love watching the highlights from the US/Mexico nations league final.
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Happy to see the U.S. win, but really upset not to see it. My mother records EVERYTHING and never watches anything, with the upshot being that, when I turned off the Euro final, the effing TV was TUNED to the effing Gold Cup game at the very end, and so it was spoiled. It did drive home that the stats were deceiving, and that game came down to the wire, which is worrying. You have to put away a team like Haiti, especially when you score early. 1-goal leads are fragile. Just ask England 
Indeed, like the euro final but on a much lower level of intrigue, the haiti match was boring and not many chances to score goals. A lot of possession for the US but nothing really threatening in the final third. A lot of balls aimed at Zardes that never came close. And the goal was fortunate because it came off of a very poorly defended cross. Haiti have some good players. They looked dangerous on the counter but nothing really threatening in the way of scoring goals.Happy to see the U.S. win, but really upset not to see it. My mother records EVERYTHING and never watches anything, with the upshot being that, when I turned off the Euro final, the effing TV was TUNED to the effing Gold Cup game at the very end, and so it was spoiled. It did drive home that the stats were deceiving, and that game came down to the wire, which is worrying. You have to put away a team like Haiti, especially when you score early. 1-goal leads are fragile. Just ask England
I don’t know what to expect from this USA squad. They are a significant drop off from their European based squad. They may struggle vs Canada in this group. With that said Mexico are floundering at the moment with all of their chaos and injuries to their goal scoring players.
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I'm trying to not let Berhalter in charge keep me down, but I can only see him holding us back moving forward.
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Wow, they don't make the Gold Cup easy to watch, do they? You'd think a tourney based in this hemisphere would air at a reasonable time, but no. And, really, will it start at 9:30pm, or is that the "pre-game" time? Bummer, man. Seems like I won't be watching this one either.
I think the late games are starting at 10pm eastern time. So far it doesn’t look very good to watch anyway. Maybe when the group stages are over it will pick up. Is it true that Qatar are playing in this gold cup or am I seeing things?
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
I think they are, yes. Again, WTF would you make the Gold Cup games run at 10pm if you want to have ANY hope of garnering an audience. For me? It's not worth the lost sleep, so I'll just skip it. And, I mean, Gold Cup games used to be a must watch. Whoever made these decisions are none too bright.
Why would Qatar be in the Gold Cup?
OP
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Qatar is an invited team. The Gold Cup used to have invited teams every tournament in the 90s/2000s. Copa America the same. Unknown if this is a one time deal or Concacaf is bringing it back.
Games are late because it’s a double header. Unfortunate the US got the later slot twice.
Games are late because it’s a double header. Unfortunate the US got the later slot twice.
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
At least that explanation makes sense, although putting your bigger market team in the late slot twice out of three games (at least--will game 3 be late too?) doesn't make any sense.
Stout
Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Okay, so we beat Martinique 6-1, but we are the true losers in this game, as we let Manu freaking Riviere score haha
(btw, where the hell did the smilies go?)
(btw, where the hell did the smilies go?)
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