The United States won its sixth Gold Cup in its history by having Jamaica (2-1) in the final last Wednesday. The American team succeeds Mexico.
The United States opened the scoring with Jozy Altidore on a superb direct free kick over 30m in the 45th minute.
But Jamaica responded at the start of the second period (50th) by Je-Vaughn Watson who surprised the American defense on a corner quickly taken. The final was decided in the 88th minute when the United States regained the advantage and broke the Jamaican resistance thanks to Jordan Morris who victoriously took over a ball badly released by the opposing defense.
Arena put the USA back on track
"Team USA" succeeds the winners of the flagship event of the Concacaf zone (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) in Mexico, eliminated in the semi-finals by Jamaica (1-0). The Bruce Arena-led squad signed their 14th unbeaten game, their longest unbeaten streak since 2005.
His team, very attractive in the semi-finals against Costa Rica (2-0), dominated the final, but came up against the excellent defensive organization of the "Reggae Boyz". It was not until the 19th minute that the United States offered itself a net opportunity of goal not Altidore, but its 25m shot was diverted by Andre Blake. The Jamaican goalkeeper, prominent since the start of the tournament, then telescoped an American player and had to leave, injured in his right hand, his teammates.
Despite this stroke of luck, Jamaica held high for 88 minutes before yielding to Morris with their third goal of the tournament.
"We must pay tribute to Jamaica, they made a super final, a great tournament, but we managed to find the opening," said the American coach after the final. _AF
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