Gold Cup final: The USMNT survived Guatemala. Mexico won't be so forgiving

Yahoo

19 hours ago

ST. LOUIS — It was nearly halftime in the second semifinal when Chris Richards ambled through the mixed zone here at Energizer Park. He and the U.S. men's national team had just held off Guatemala in Wednesday's first Gold Cup semifinal. As they awaited their opponent, either Mexico or Honduras, I asked Richards, bluntly: 'Do you hope it's Mexico?'
And he didn't hesitate.
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'Yeah. Yeah, I do,' he said with a half-smile.
'We owe 'em a little something from October [when the USMNT lost to Mexico in a friendly]. We'll do it by winning a trophy.'
Sure enough, they will get that chance Sunday ( in Houston. In the second semifinal, Mexico beat Honduras, 1-0. The two American rivals will meet at NRG Stadium in their first competitive clash of the Mauricio Pochettino era. And even before the matchup was confirmed, U.S. players sounded like they were relishing the occasion.
'Every final means a little bit more,' Richards said. 'The two teams that we'll potentially play in the final also mean a little bit more — especially Mexico.'
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Diego Luna, who was born in California to parents of Mexican heritage, and could've played for either national team, is perhaps relishing it more than anyone.
'It's gonna be awesome,' Luna said Wednesday. 'I've always dreamt of, growing up, seeing the USA-Mexico games. To be able to play in one would be unreal. That'd be an awesome experience.
'And then from there, it's just, fight. A battle that you're gonna go into. And, we'll see who comes out.'
USMNT's Diego Luna struck twice Wednesday, then got a glimpse of what awaits Sunday. (Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images)
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
From Guatemala's press to El Tri's fire
In addition to a battle, though, it will be a soccer game. To win it, the USMNT will have to be much better than they were Wednesday night in St. Louis — and much better than they were back in October in Guadalajara.
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They beat Guatemala here thanks to Luna's two early goals, but they nearly wilted under pressure. They spent significant stretches pinned back by FIFA's 106th-ranked team, unable to keep possession and calm the game.
'I think we need to hold the ball more,' Luna said afterward.
Instead, they retreated into a defensive posture, and often didn't get enough pressure to the ball — in part because their mid-block press was disjointed.
Take, for example, the 28th minute, when Luna was late to recognize a loose pass from one Guatemala center back to the other. He then charged down the receiver of that pass, but he couldn't disrupt it; and, because he was tardy, no teammates followed him. So, suddenly, they were all scrambling back into their own half. Several seconds later, the ball was in their net — though the goal was clearly, and correctly, disallowed for offside.
(Original video: Fox Sports)
Their intensity levels seemed to drop from minute 15 through 45. Some of that is a reflection of game state. It is natural to recede when up 2-0. It doesn't necessarily portend trouble on Sunday at 0-0.
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But the worry is that, in those 30 minutes and throughout the second half, individual shortcomings also surfaced. Matt Freese looked shaky in goal, especially when coming off his line (or deciding not to). Tim Ream looked a half-step slow. Patrick Agyemang's touches and runs were faulty. Agyemang was the primary reason the USMNT couldn't punish Guatemala's aggression and extend their lead on the counterattack.
(Original video: Fox Sports)
Perhaps the most relevant worry, though, is that Luna's goals simply wouldn't have happened against Mexico.
Against Mexico, would he have been able to turn inside so cleanly, into the left half-space? Would Malik Tillman have been afforded so much space at the top of the box? Would Luna have gotten to the rebound of Luca de la Torre's shot ahead of an El Tri defender?
And against Mexico, would Luna have been able to dance past an opponent so easily, without a second stepping in to block his shot? Or, heck, would the USMNT have won a series of duels on the right sideline in the first place?
Mexico hasn't conceded a goal in over 380 minutes of soccer here at the Gold Cup — not since its opener against the Dominican Republic. It is the reigning champ of both the Gold Cup (in 2023) and the CONCACAF Nations League (this past March). It was the pre-tournament favorite, and levels above any foe the U.S. has faced in the competition thus far.
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It will also have the backing of tens of thousands of green-clad fans in Houston.
The ragtag U.S. men's national team faces its toughest test Sunday against Mexico. (Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
(John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF via Getty Images)
Wednesday was loud, Sunday will be deafening
Some U.S. players were surprised, and perhaps shook, by Wednesday's crowd, which was 90% blue and white, and vociferously pro-Guatemala.
'You can't understate what a partisan crowd can do to young minds, guys who haven't experienced it,' Ream said.
Some guys, upon hearing the noise and feeling the passion, 'looked at me,' Ream recalled, 'and said, 'What is that?''
He urged them to take a deep breath. Over his many years in CONCACAF, he has learned to embrace environment's like Wednesday's. 'You start to understand what it takes to overcome them,' he said.
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For the uninitiated, however, the first time can be tough. 'Sometimes, the pressure comes, the fans feel like they're on top of you, the noise is deafening, and you kinda lose it a little bit,' Ream acknowledged.
The hope, though, is that Wednesday was the initiation for Sunday.
'That will go a long way to helping with the final,' Ream said. 'Now they know. Now they understand what it's like, what it could be like. And how, in their own minds, they can calm themselves down.'
The crowd in Houston will be three times as loud. The intensity, on the field and up above, will be inescapable.
'This game tonight would be like a little brother to the U.S.-Mexico game,' Richards said. 'So, if [players] were a bit nervous for that one, the Mexico game's gonna be a lot bigger.'