Second-Half Goal Sees USMNT Fall 1-0 In 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup Final

On a cool evening at Soldier Field, the U.S. Men’s National Team fell at the final hurdle to Jonathan dos Santos’ 73rd-minute goal that gave Mexico a 1-0 win in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup Final.

July 7, 2019

Jonathan dos Santos Scores 73rd-Minute Game-Winning Goal;

Christian Pulisic Wins Young Player of the Tournament

CHICAGO (July 7, 2019) – On a cool evening at Soldier Field, the U.S. Men’s National Team fell at the final hurdle to Jonathan dos Santos’ 73rd-minute goal that gave Mexico a 1-0 win in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup Final.

U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter sent out the same starting XI that guided the USA through the semifinal while handing the captain’s armband to Weston McKennie for the first time in his career, upping the number of players to captain the U.S. in 2019 to an even 10.

The USA looked the better bet to score early on with Jozy Altidore putting Christian Pulisic, named Young Player of the Tournament, through on goal only to see his shot blocked by charging Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. The rebound was headed back in by Paul Arriola and a missed overhead kick attempt by Altidore was nearly cleared off Pulisic into the upper left corner.

A minute later, Tim Ream cleared the ball upfield where Altidore brought it down and cut past a defender into the box but dragged his shot just outside the right post.

Later opportunities for the industrious Arriola and the creative Pulisic rolled wide of the left stick and landed in the hands of a nearly-chipped Ochoa, respectively.

When the teams emerged from halftime tied at 0-0, play carried a similar pattern to the first half. In the 51st minute, Jordan Morris was denied on a glorious chance as his header from a Pulisic Corner was cleared off the line by Andrés Guardado.

After that point, the field slowly tilted in Mexico’s favor. Berhalter made a pair of subs after the hour mark, bringing on Cristian Roldan and Gyasi Zardes to provide fresh legs. A cushioned header from Zardes put Pulisic in on goal in the 71st minute, but the young attacker was closed down by a Mexico defender and put his shot wide. Two minutes later Mexico took the lead when Raúl Jiménez laid it off for dos Santos to hit the winner.

The USA continued to search for a way back into the game and a final burst of pressure resulted in a last-gasp chance for Roldan in the 87th minute but his one-time drive from inside the box was blocked by Héctor Moreno.

Goal Scoring Rundown:

MEX – Jonathan dos Santos (Raúl Jiménez), 73rd minute: Rodolfo Pizarro collected the ball near midfield and drove toward the USA goal before picking out Jiménez in the center of the box. The big forward deftly backheeled the ball into the path of dos Santos, who one-timed a left footed drive off the crossbar and into the left side of the goal. USA 0, MEX 1 [WATCH] FINAL

Key Saves and Defensive Plays:

USA – Paul Arriola, 15th minute: Mexico worked the ball down the left through Uriel Antuna who centered to the penalty mark where Andrés Guardado’s shot skied over the bar thanks to a great challenge from Arriola.

MEX – Edson Álvarez, 20th minute: Arriola chased the ball down and played back for Michael Bradley to swing it to the back right post. There, Reggie Cannon volleyed it toward the penalty spot and an unmarked Altidore but Edson Álvarez made an imperative recovery to head the ball clear.

MEX – Andrés Guardado, 51st minute: The USA’s best chance of the second half saw Pulisic send in a corner that was headed on goal by Jordan Morris only for Guardado to head it clear off the line.

USA – Zack Steffen, 63rd minute: Pizarro got the ball to the top of the box for Álvarez to shoot and Jiménez redirected it on goal. With little power on the shot, Zack Steffen snatched it easily.

USA – Matt Miazga, 66th minute: Dos Santos got behind the U.S. defense and cut the ball back for Jiménez, whose shot went wide after being put off by a Miazga challenge. On the ensuing corner, Steffen claimed a volley from outside the box that was headed on goal.

MEX – Héctor Moreno, 87th minute: On the USA’s last best chance to find an equalizer, Héctor Moreno made a game-saving block to deny a goal-bound rocket from Roldan inside the box after Arriola recycled a cleared corner.

Additional Notes:

The U.S. starting XI had an average age of 25 years, 175 days and 41 caps.
USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter went with the same lineup for the second-straight match.
Christian Pulisic won the tournament’s Best Young Player Award.
Pulisic, Bradley and Aaron Long were all named to the tournament Best XI.
Michael Bradley joined Cobi Jones (164) and Landon Donovan (157) as the third USMNT player to reach the 150-cap milestone.
Weston McKennie captained the USMNT for the first time.
Paul Arriola made his team-leading 11th appearance of 2019.
Since 2000, the USA is 14-8-6 against Mexico. The U.S. is 19-35-15 against Mexico all-time.

- U.S. Men’s National Team Match Report -

Match: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Mexico

Date: July 7, 2019

Competition: 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup - Final

Venue: Soldier Field; Chicago, Ill.

Attendance: 62,493 (sellout)

Kickoff: 9 p.m. ET

Weather: 73 degrees, clear

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F

USA 0 0 0

MEX 0 1 1

MEX – Jonathan Dos Santos (Raul Jimenez) 73rd minute

Lineups:

USA: 1-Zack Steffen, 14-Reggie Cannon, 19-Matt Miazga, 23-Aaron Long, 13-Tim Ream (16-Daniel Lovitz, 83); 8-Weston McKennie (capt.), 4-Michael Bradley, 10-Christian Pulisic; 11-Jordan Morris (15-Cristian Roldan, 61), 17-Jozy Altidore (9-Gyasi Zardes, 64), 7-Paul Arriola

Substitutes not used: 12-Sean Johnson, 22-Tyler Miller, 2-Nick Lima, 3-Omar Gonzalez, 5-Walker Zimmerman, 6-Wil Trapp, 18-Jonathan Lewis, 20-Djordje Mihailovic, 21-Tyler Boyd

Head coach: Gregg Berhalter

MEX: 13-Guillermo Ochoa; 3-Carlos Salcedo, 4-Edson Alvarez, 6-Jonathan dos Santos, 9-Raul Jimenez, 15-Hector Moreno, 18-Andres Guardado (capt.) (5-Diego Reyes, 89), 20-Rodolfo Pizarro (8-Carlos Rodriguez, 81), 21-Luis Rodriguez, 22-Uriel Antuna (11-Roberto Alvarado, 86), 23-Jesus Gallardo

Substitutes not used: 1-Jonathan Orozco, 12-Hugo Gonzalez, 2-Nestor Araujo, 7-Orbelin Pineda, 10-Luis Montes, 14-Alexis Vega, 16-Erick Gutierrez, 17-Cesar Montes, 19-Fernando Navarro

Head coach: Gerardo Martino

Stats Summary: USA /MEX

Shots: 11 / 20

Shots on Goal: 2 / 5

Saves: 4 / 2

Corner Kicks: 7 / 3

Fouls: 17 / 10

Offside: 2 / 2

Misconduct Summary:

None

Officials:

Referee: Mario Escober (GUA)

Assistant Referee 1: William Arrieta (CRC)

Assistant Referee 2: Humberto Panjoj (GUA)

4th Official: Juan Gabriel Calderon (CRC)

Budweiser Man of the Match: TBD

Go Deeper

MNT 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup USMNT vs Mexico 7 7 2019