CONCACAF Gold Cup 2015: Winners and Losers from Semi-Finals
The matchup for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup final is set after Jamaica and Mexico won their semi-final matches Wednesday night at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
In the early game, Jamaica took a stunning two-goal lead against the United States and held on for a 2-1 victory to clinch a first-ever berth in the final. The U.S. pulled a goal back early in the second half but resorted to playing long balls as full time approached.
"We had enough chances to put this game away," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said, according to Sports Illustrated's Brian Straus. "Early, later on as well. The luck was not with us, maybe. Maybe we weren't clinical enough."
In the nightcap, Mexico needed a controversial late penalty to equalize against Panama. El Tri then scored in extra time—again from the penalty spot—to claim a contentious win over the Canaleros.
The final is set for Sunday in Philadelphia. The third-place match, between the U.S. and Panama, is scheduled for the day before, also in Philadelphia.
Here are our choices for winners and losers from Wednesday's semi-finals.
Winner: Andres Guardado
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Mexico won their match against Panama, 2-1 after extra time, but let's be clear: This was not an impressive performance by El Tri.
As we'll see in the next slide, Mexico benefitted from two poor calls by referee Mark Geiger, who had an awful night and lost control of the match to an embarrassing degree. One of Mexico's two goals—the 90th-minute equalizer—resulted from a dubious penalty call. The other came from a legit penalty decision, but for now, that's all beside the point.
Our focus in this slide is on the way Mexican captain Andres Guardado held his nerve to score both penalties. On both occasions, the 28-year-old midfielder strode coolly to the spot, ignored the chaos surrounding him and dispatched an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net. Panama goalkeeper Jaime Penedo had no chance either time.
On a night when Mexico played significantly worse than their best, El Tri needed their leader to make the difference. That's exactly what Guardado did.
The two goals put Guardado up to five for the Gold Cup, just one behind leader Clint Dempsey. After a series of strong performances this month, Mexico's captain must be in the running for the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.
If Guardado can turn in another good shift on Sunday, Mexico will be champions, and he'll have individual glory.
Loser: Mark Geiger and CONCACAF
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Referee Mark Geiger made two poor calls in the match between Mexico and Panama, and both of them benefitted Mexico.
In the first half, the American showed Panama's Luis Tejada a red card following an aerial challenge near midfield. Replays showed Tejada had his elbow up as he leaped into the duel, but the action was neither intentional nor malicious. At worst, it was a yellow-card offense, but Tejada's dismissal meant Panama had to play most of the game with 10 men.
That caused the first moment of chaos on the night as Tejada refused to leave the pitch and Panama protested the decision bitterly. Fans began to throw objects onto the pitch at the Panamanian players, and all in all, it was an embarrassing scene.
More would follow.
Panama managed to score first in the second half through Roman Torres' header, and the lead stood until the 89th minute, when Geiger awarded Mexico a dubious penalty. This time, Geiger penalized Torres for a handball, though it appeared the ball incidentally struck his arm as he fell to the pitch following a challenge in the box.
At best, it was a controversial call, but it led to Mexico's equalizer, as Andres Guardado calmly finished from the spot following a lengthy delay on the pitch.
This call also incensed Panama's players, and it's easy to understand their rage. What's not understandable, though, was the fracas that followed. Both teams were guilty of disgraceful behavior in an ugly incident that will give CONCACAF a black eye on the international stage.
And yet there was one more ugly episode after the final whistle, when Panama's players rushed the pitch and chased after Geiger. The referee had to leave the field escorted by security.
All in all, it was a night to forget for Geiger and CONCACAF.
Winner: Miguel Herrera
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Mexico coach Miguel Herrera has been under pressure throughout the Gold Cup. After (an almost entirely different) Mexico side flopped at the Copa America, Herrera knew he needed to deliver a Gold Cup title.
It hasn't been pretty, but he's one win away from doing just that.
Wednesday followed the pattern Mexico have set for most of the tournament. El Tri started brightly with some attractive football in the opening stages but failed to create good chances. But after not playing particularly well on the night, Mexico secured a result.
In this game, and the quarterfinal before it, dubious penalty calls worked in Mexico's favor. But Herrera won't mind as long as his team keeps winning.
His main concern now, of course, will be trying to coax a good performance out of Mexico in the final. Apart from the 6-0 win over Cuba, El Tri haven't really convinced at this tournament. And even then, they probably should have scored a few more goals.
But the bottom line is that Mexico are in position to accomplish their goal of winning the Gold Cup. If they do, Herrera's job will be safe.
Losers: Brad Guzan, John Brooks and Ventura Alvarado
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Blame for the United States' loss to Jamaica should go to many places, but goalkeeper Brad Guzan and center-backs John Brooks and Ventura Alvarado deserve a dishonorable mention. Though Jamaica deserved to win, both of their goals were avoidable.
The first came from a long throw, with Darren Mattocks rising highest in the box to send a header in off the woodwork in the 31st minute. Brooks was beaten too easily one-on-one, and Alvarado did him no favors with his positioning and lack of movement.
"Dreadful defending by both Alvarado and Brooks," B/R's Joe Tansey tweeted. "Alvarado stood inches in front of Mattocks. Brooks not good enough in (the) air."
All through the tournament, Brooks and Alvarado have been Jurgen Klinsmann's first-choice combination at center-back, but all through the tournament, it's been hard to see why. The two simply haven't meshed, and Jamaica's opening goal illustrated the deficiencies of their partnership. Going forward, Klinsmann must evaluate whether this is really a viable option for the U.S.
Similarly, Klinsmann will have to decide what to do with Guzan. Early in the tournament, the 30-year-old had made a strong claim to the No. 1 jersey with a string of solid performances during Tim Howard's self-imposed sabbatical. But on the day Howard announced his intention to return to the U.S. player pool, Guzan made a pair of errors that led to Jamaica's second goal.
First, after collecting the ball in his area, Guzan raced off his line and attempted a throw from the edge of the box. The linesman raised his flag for handling outside the area, and replays confirmed it was correct. The infraction gave Jamaica a free kick in a dangerous area, and what's worse, it was a completely avoidable error.
Then, on the free kick, Guzan positioned his wall poorly and could not react in time to stop Giles Barnes' free kick. Barnes struck the ball well, but he didn't place it in a corner. Simply put, Guzan was beaten too easily.
Winners: Winfried Schafer and Jamaica
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Winfried Schafer might not have been a well-known name among U.S. soccer fans, but he will be after Wednesday night. The German manager has done an excellent job with Jamaica, shoring up the Reggae Boyz's organization and defense since taking over in 2013.
And at the Gold Cup, Jamaica have been superb both offensively and defensively. When the U.S. scored early in the second half Wednesday night, it was the first time since their opening game that the Reggae Boyz had conceded. Huge underdogs against the Americans, Jamaica started brightly and hit their hosts with a series of quick attacks. A similar sequence ensued around the half-hour mark, and it yielded two deserved goals.
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. In 2002, Schafer led Cameroon to the African Cup of Nations title. Thirteen years later with Jamaica, he's on the verge of another big triumph.
And who would bet against him and Jamaica at this point?
Losers: Jurgen Klinsmann and the USMNT
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To gain some context of how great an upset Jamaica's win over the U.S. was, consider this: The last time the Americans lost to a Caribbean team on home soil was in 1969, against Haiti, per Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer.
In addition, the U.S. had won each of its last five Gold Cup semi-finals by a combined score of 10-3. The Americans had only lost once previously to Jamaica, and never in three previous Gold Cup encounters.
How bad was the loss? According to Brian Straus of Sports Illustrated, it was "perhaps the biggest upset loss in U.S. history." His colleague, Grant Wahl went a step further and removed the "perhaps."
So what does it mean for the U.S. and coach Jurgen Klinsmann? Certainly a loss in the Gold Cup semi-finals is not acceptable for this team, which has higher ambitions than losing to Jamaica and finishing third at best in this tournament.
Moving forward, Klinsmann will have to make some tough decisions about which players stay and go. Players like Ventura Alvarado and John Brooks don't seem ready, as previously noted, and against Jamaica, Kyle Beckerman played poorly in midfield ahead of them. Both of those are just a few of the decisions the German coach has ahead.
Or does he? Four years ago, Bob Bradley lost his job after his U.S. team fell to Mexico in the Gold Cup final. Before that, Bradley had led the Americans to first place in the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, and then the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup.
Klinsmann's resume has an eerily similar feel, except that his team lost in the 2015 Gold Cup semi-finals (admittedly, he led the U.S. to the Gold Cup title in 2013). While Klinsmann deserves credit for winning recent high-profile friendlies against Germany and the Netherlands, a semi-final exit at the Gold Cup is wholly unacceptable for this program. Previous U.S. coaches have lost their jobs for less.
And yet, it doesn't feel like U.S. Soccer will part ways with Klinsmann at this time. And perhaps that's for the best. Klinsmann has led this team to a few great highs—including the aforementioned friendly victories—and he deserves a chance to fix what's wrong with the squad.
The Americans will now feature in a one-game playoff, against this year's Gold Cup winners, to determine CONCACAF's representative in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Klinsmann needs to deliver a victory in that game.
The German coach has been on the job now for four years, and he has to take the blame for his side's unconvincing performances this summer. Apart from the 6-0 victory against an overmatched Cuba team, the U.S. never really got going in the Gold Cup. Klinsmann and the U.S. now have work to do.
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