USA win shootout against Canada on night of Gold Cup drama

By Paul Nicholson in Cincinnati

July 9 – USA clung to their Gold Cup title for at least another round as they headed to the semi-finals after a 3-2 penalty shootout win over Canada . It was a night of passion and drama at the sold-out TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.

If this match saw two unnamed superstar teams (too big to wear the jersey?), it more than made up for their absence with edge-of-your-seat engagement and excitement as he headed towards a great finish.

This was Gold Cup football at its most entertaining and limitless. At halftime, the score was 1-1. At the end of extra time, it was a grueling 2-2. Comes the man hour and for the USA at the Gold Cup, it still looks like it was goalkeeper captain Matt Turner who made two brilliant saves to lead his team to Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego this Wednesday to face Panama.

In mid-June, the United States and Canada met in the Nations League final in Las Vegas. The United States lost 2-0 after advancing to the final after beating Mexico 3-0. It was an intoxicating brand of football not often seen on American teams, and it was nearly matched by a Canadian team that can't quite get over the top of the hill in the biggest games. .

The American and Canadian teams had very different looks about them since that final. No Christian Pulisic, Pepe or Tim Weah (they had new clubs to negotiate with), nor Gio Reyna or Weston McKennie or a host of other players who play in Europe. Canada was stripped of Alfonso Davies, Jonathan David and Kyle Larin. But who cares?

Those in their place provided a night of football that will live long in Gold Cup memory and history.

The match opened with a bang with American Gianluca Busio knocking out the linesman in the first minute - which was probably not part of the pre-match strategy. After a long delay, a replacement was found and the game started again.

The opening rallies were cautious but fascinating as Canada's 4-4-2 fell to a back line at five against the slightly more fluid 4-3-3 of the United States which pushed and probed .

There's a lot to love about Busio who was a buzzing presence for USA whose attack was collapsing on Steven Vitoria and Kamal Miller, protected by a deeply seated and physically dominant Moise Bombito.

Busio fired the first real shot on goal away from either side in 17 minutes. Scoring hat-tricks in goalscoring matches against bad Caribbean opposition in group games is very different from the hustle and bustle of a big defense. Jesus Ferreira and Julian Gressel struggled to find space in the middle of Canada's strong backline.

  Sports   Jul 10, 2023   0   64  Add to Reading List