The Morning After: Gold Cup Final

The Morning After is a recurring piece that addresses important matches the morning after.  Obviously we're a little late on this one, but today the beach and a recreational footy game beckoned.  So here's our review of the Gold Cup final between Mexico and the United States, albeit a little later than intended.

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By Kayla

One thing is for certain: the US were the visitors in their home country in the Gold Cup final held in Pasadena, California last night.

With an attendance of over 93,000 fans, the majority were there for Mexico.  It was evident not only in the cheers but in the sea of green and black seen in the stands.  They say it's hard to be the visitors, but I imagine it's even harder to be the visitors in your own country.

Regardless, the US started strong with a 2-0 lead initially, but Mexico were the more consistent team throughout the match.  Mexico scored two goals before the end of the first half to equalize and scored two more goals in the second half to make the final score 4-2.  It's easy to say that the fans and the ref (whose questionable calls or lack thereof might have been one-sided) played a part in the outcome, but ultimately it comes down to the game being played.

In the beginning, the US looked as if they could just cruise past Mexico to win the final, but a few things went terribly wrong, especially in the second half of play.  The US defense were not as tight.  Granted it's not uncommon for the US's defense to be made fool's by a big team's offense, but once Cherundolo was replaced by Bornstein, three of Mexico's four goals were from his side of the pitch.  Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones were not as strong in the middle, and Mexico's defense made sure to shut down Dempsey.  

Kudos to Bob Bradley who decided to start Freddy Adu, which was clearly a risk to take.  While it seems almost fashionable to root for Mexico over the United States, it definitely seems Freddy Adu has the majority rooting for his comeback rather than against.  The US's two goals belonged to Michael Bradley (who played in his first major final - the two previous finals were missed due to card suspension) and Landon Donovan, but Freddy Adu is on a steady uphill climb with his impressive ball control and couple of assists from the limited play he has had this Gold Cup.

Overall, Mexico were the better team.  It was a deserved win for a team who had dominated the entire tournament.  The only stumbling block for Mexico were the five players sent home for inability to pass drug testing. The US also had some strong points throughout the tournament.  Despite questionable group stage play, the Stars and Stripes dominated the knockout stage but shutting down every team until Mexico.  The US players were no doubt heartbroken over the loss in the final, but they are a team who are in transition and have young players that gained valuable experience from this tournament.

Sadly, I am afraid that once again the cries for Bob Bradley's head will resound.  How easily people forget that he's brought great success to the team during his tenure.  It's easy to place blame on the man in charge, but a coach can only take so much blame before some of it has to rest on the players.  Mistakes were made and the inconsistency of the US team got the best of them in the end, but now is not the time to dwell.  Now we look to the future.  Hopefully the US can learn from this final and fix the troublesome issues that seems to plague them - whether they start strong and end weak or start weak and end strong.


And clearly Chicharito has reached sex symbol status now:

 

Kayla is a writer, co-editor & co-founder of The Captain's Armblog.  She enjoys eating too many sweets, writing, and defending Fernando Torres. Send her digital candies to thecaptainsarmblog@gmail.com