USMNT Turn Attention to Unexpected Gold Cup Consolation Match

The ill-fated semifinal is now a memory, and the United States men's national team has a new objective in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, a goal the Americans probably never expected to be chasing: third place.

After suffering a 2-1 upset loss to Jamaica on Wednesday night in Atlanta, the U.S. now heads to the suburbs of Philadelphia for the Gold Cup's third-place match against Panama. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.

It's hardly what the Americans and coach Jurgen Klinsmann probably expected to be doing this weekend. Before the tournament, the aim was obviously to win the Gold Cup—or at the very least advance to the final. 

Winning the Gold Cup would have secured for the U.S. a berth in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. The Americans will still have a chance to qualify but will now face a one-match playoff against this year's Gold Cup champions, either Jamaica or Mexico, in October.

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"We badly want to win this tournament because we want to qualify for Russia 2017," Klinsmann said in March, per Soccer America. "This is huge to us. The best way to do this is to win this summer so we avoid a playoff game in October."

Compare that to his words after the defeat to Jamaica. Speaking to USSoccer.com, Klinsmann said:

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Finishing off in style Saturday in front of our fans, being third then and doing that with the right attitude and right approach. You owe that to fans and the tournament. Swallowing that pill, it’s not nice to swallow, but it is what it is, you can’t change that anymore. Then we keep building, we keep progressing, we keep working hard in order to go towards World Cup qualifying by the end of the year and it starts all over again.

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Klinsmann is right: This is a bitter pill for the U.S., which had lost only once previously to Jamaica in its history. The Americans had advanced to five straight Gold Cup finals and had not lost on home soil to a Caribbean opponent since the 1960s. Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl called it the "biggest upset loss in U.S. men's soccer history."

After the loss, Klinsmann deservedly drew some criticism for his handling of the team during the tournament. The most glaring point of contention involved his choices at center-back, inexperienced youngsters John Brooks and Ventura Alvarado. Throughout their time together on the pitch at the Gold Cup, the duo appeared out of sync.

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Last summer, Klinsmann relied on Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler at the World Cup, but Besler did not make the Gold Cup squad, and Gonzalez appeared only sporadically. Klinsmann's insistence on using Brooks and Alvarado pointed to the future, but it cost the U.S. in the present. Both were at fault on Jamaica's opening goal in the semifinals, and neither did enough to warrant their continued starting spots throughout the tournament.

Klinsmann's predecessor, Bob Bradley, lost his job after the U.S. lost to Mexico in the 2011 Gold Cup final. The previous year, the Americans had advanced to the World Cup round of 16, and Bradley also guided his side to first place in the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

That resume lines up surprisingly well with Klinsmann's, but the German's job is almost certainly not in danger following the loss to Jamaica. As Joe Prince-Wright noted at NBC Sports' Pro Soccer Talk:

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People calling for Klinsmann’s head seems a little premature, it has to be said. Yes, the U.S. has reached the Gold Cup final in the last five tournaments and had said winning this trophy was a must, but they came up against a talented Jamaica side who have spent all summer together and have conceded just six goals in eight games of tournament play. Impressive. What hasn’t been impressive is the play of Klinsmann’s side. There has been a lot of rotation in the lineups throughout this Gold Cup but squeaking past Haiti and Honduras to open up, then a 1-1 tie with Panama showed plenty of cracks. Especially at the back.

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Klinsmann will have a chance to right some of the wrongs of the Gold Cup, and that process will begin in the third-place match against Panama. It's not the game he or his team envisioned playing in this weekend, but now it will have to serve as a starting-over point.

Ending this summer's uninspiring Gold Cup appearance on a positive note would give the U.S. a solid foundation as they build to the Confederations Cup playoff this October. Previously, Klinsmann has remarked about how much he wants his team to play in that tournament.

He and the Americans still have that chance, though it won't come about the way they had hoped.

Follow @MiguelCominguez.