The United States men’s national team won the CONCACAF Nations League final for the third consecutive 12 months, defeating Mexico 2-0 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Tyler Adams opened the scoring just before halftime with a long-range lightning strike in his first U.S. game in a couple of 12 months and a half, and Gio Reyna added a second for the United States after providing two assists in the semifinal against Jamaica.
The match was interrupted twice late after discriminatory shouting was heard.
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The singing continues
As the ninetieth minute approached, with the United States leading 2-0, fans might be heard shouting discriminatory words about goal kicks, which world governing body FIFA, CONCACAF and the Mexican federation have been working to eliminate. After each incident, a message was read over the stadium’s public address system in English and Spanish, reminding fans of the federation’s policy regarding the chant.
As the shouting continued after goal kicks by American goalkeeper Matt Turner, Canadian referee Drew Fischer finally moved to Step 1 of the anti-discrimination protocol, which calls for the game to be stopped, the offenders faraway from the stadium and play resumed.
When the match gave the impression to be over, with some fans even chanting for Mexican goalkeeper Ochoa, Fischer once more halted the match quite than ending it – which the referee may do under protocol.
DEEPER
Ongoing efforts by the Federation of Mexico to combat homophobic chants
Before Turner could take his last kick of the match, 40 seconds after the second stoppage, the referee ended the match as the fans left the stadium.
CONCACAF, the governing body for soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, condemned the chanting and added in an announcement: “It is extremely disappointing that this issue continues to be an issue at some matches, particularly as we look to the next two years. they create a huge opportunity for the development of sports in our region.
“We will continue to urge fans to positively support their teams with respect for the opponent and all participants in the match.”
Tyler Adams, long distance
After two hamstring surgeries and loads of rehab and waiting, Tyler Adams headed to the United States for the first time in 478 days. However, as the midfielder continues to get better, his appearances remain limited and American manager Gregg Berhalter was only in a position to play him for 45 minutes.
He used every detail.
As the first half approached regular time, center back Tim Ream took a sloppy corner kick and passed the ball to Tim Weah, who sent Weston McKennie even further. McKennie then passed the ball to Adams, who was about 30 yards from Guillermo Ochoa’s goal. Adams took one touch before firing his right-foot racket through the legs of diving Mexican midfielder Erick Sanchez and past a diving Ochoa for a spectacular first goal.
TYLER ADAMS FROM THE PARKING LOT ARE YOU REAL??? 💥🚀🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZrK7PoxCST
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 25, 2024
Even before the golazo, Adams made his presence felt in midfield, stopping defensive midfielder Edson Alvarez as the West Ham United player received the ball in time and dropped back to assist the U.S. get out of pressure as Mexico striker Henry Martin tried to steal the ball from the American center backs.
Still, what everyone will remember about the performance is the strike, Adams’ first profession goal scored from outside the penalty area.
“I trained him to hit balls from 30 yards out… I never, ever saw him hit the ball like that,” Jesse Marsch, Adams’ former club coach, said on Paramount+.
Not a foul strategy to make an impression in 45 minutes of play.
Jon Arnold
Reyna’s interesting role
It’s secure to say that Gio Reyna loves the CONCACAF Nations League.
After scoring in the 2021 final and assisting on each goals in last 12 months’s final against Canada, Reyna found the net with a second-half finish in this 12 months’s final to double the USMNT’s lead.
However, Reyna spent a part of the first half dropping deep in possession on the left, trying to begin the game from a deeper position. It’s the same role to that played by Weston McKennie, who often received the ball in this space during the World Cup against England and in several other U.S. games, including the semi-final against Jamaica.
Most of Reyna’s plays in the first half were made removed from the attacking third, and the decision to play him in this role sparked criticism during the break from CBS analysts, including Marsch, who was a candidate for the position of coach in the USA last 12 months. and former American striker Charlie Davies.
“I just don’t understand why we make all these complicated rotations, and in my opinion they put players in positions that didn’t reflect their best qualities,” Marsch said. “We decided to place (Reyna) almost in the starting position as a left center back, and you may see that he doesn’t even look very comfortable… he makes passes that Tyler Adams could easily make, and Tim Ream could easily do, which he could easily do may be done by players whose quality is lower than him. I feel what makes Gio special is putting him on the court in difficult situations where he has real opportunities to make big plays.
The Americans had pretty decent control of the game in the first half and were finally rewarded when Adams scored. Reyna became more involved on the pitch in the second half, although Adams’ goal modified the way Mexico needed to approach the final 45 minutes. Reyna’s positioning higher up the pitch allowed him to get to the end after a poor Mexican clearance and volley into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.
GIO REYNA. TWO TO ZERO. 😤🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/xgJLAA6T2o
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 25, 2024
Reyna, who was starting competitive motion for the first time since November 1, 2023, was subbed off in the 79th minute by Yunus Musah as the United States looked to shut the scoring.
The results will determine
For nearly 90 minutes of Thursday’s semifinal against Jamaica, it looked like the United States’ Nations League campaign can be considered a disaster. The team never recovered from the pain of conceding an early goal and seemed unable to formulate a possible response until injury time in the second half. In most cases, a late equalizer would cause the TV pundits to desert their arguments and simply admit that a chaotic match interrupted the entire show.
Not Clint Dempsey.
“It was stressful,” Dempsey said minutes after Cory Burke’s own goal. “Honestly, I have never seen the United States play well since the last CONCACAF Nations League. And before that, the last time I saw them play well was against England in the World Cup. I’m just not impressed with their play. They look drained today. We’re still in it, but man, those were just about panic stations.
Sunday’s victory in a 3rd consecutive Nations League represents a formidable record for Mexico in recent years, but those searching for style in this installment of the national team can be forgiven for being upset with this window.
Five years ago, I discussed Berhalter’s approach to the role centered around playing style; buzzwords like “verticality” were in vogue, and play patterns were closely analyzed to trace the program’s progress. However, since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, these trademarks are less visible. That’s where pundits like Dempsey and fellow CBS Sports insider Jesse Marsch have focused on, questioning Berhalter’s credibility to guide this team to the Copa América and ultimately the 2026 World Cup.
Such is the lifetime of a second-term international manager. Poor results that a cycle ago would have been excused as “learning moments” at the moment are graded on a pass/fail basis. The benchmark is (almost) at all times the results of the previous tournament that serves as a benchmark and only reaching or exceeding these milestones might be enough to bypass a possible alternative on the sideline.
Berhalter’s players proceed to support him. Having won one other Nations League and re-assured regional dominance, there’s undeniable evidence that the project is on the right track. At this point, either Berhalter’s team will proceed to rack up wins – justifying a more pragmatic approach than some would love these players to take – or they will not. Only then does an open query appear that requires a solution.
We will check it during Copa América.
