Gold Cup

USMNT ease into Gold Cup quarterfinals (video)

Associated PressJul 16, 2021, 10:30 AM EDT
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KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) Daryl Dike scored twice and helped force an own goal, helping the USMNT to overwhelm Martinique 6-1 Thursday night and clinch a berth in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals.

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Miles Robinson, Gyasi Zardes and Nicholas Gioacchini also scored for the USMNT, which started a lineup of players who have not been in coach Gregg Berhalter’s top-level player pool.

Canada leads the U.S. (both 2-0) on a total-goals tiebreaker going into their matchup Sunday, which will determine the Group B winner.

The USMNT improved to 37 wins, one loss and four draws in the Gold Cup group stage.

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Berhalter changed seven starters from last weekend’s opening 1-0 win over Haiti, inserting defender James Sands along with Gianluca Busio, George Bello, Eryck Williamson, Christian Roldan, Matthew Hoppe and Dike.

The lineup averaged five international appearances and was in effect a junior varsity, with only Roldan regularly getting much time with the primary player pool.

[ LIVE: Full Gold Cup 2021 score page ] 

Hoppe, who started, and Donovan Pines, who entered in the 70th, raised the total to 47 debuts in 31 matches under Berhalter.

Dike, coming off a breakout loan from Orlando to second-tier Barnsley in England’s second-tier League Championship, raised his international goals total to three. He put the U.S. ahead in the 14th minute with a header off a long cross from Hoppe.

Busio’s shot hit the crossbar in the 23rd minute, and Dike headed the rebound toward goal. Samuel Camille attempted a clearance, but the ball popped up and spun in.

Robinson made it 3-0 in the 50th when Busio’s corner kick sailed though the box and Williamson, making his first start, crossed for Robinson to head the ball in for his second international goal.

Dike exchanged passes with a Roldan in the 59th, broke in and lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Gilles Meslien.

Acosta, just into the game, fouled Kevin Fortune, leading to Riviere’s penalty kick that beat American goalkeeper Matt Turner in the 64th.

Zardes got his 13th international goal in the 70th, two minutes after replacing Dike, and Gioacchini, who is from Kansas City, scored his third international goal in the 90th off a cross from Busio, who plays for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer.

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Funes Mori stars for Mexico v. Guatemala; El Salvador reach Gold Cup quarterfinals

Associated PressJul 15, 2021, 2:16 PM EDT
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DALLAS (AP) Rogelio Funes Mori scored twice and Orbelin Pineda added a goal to lead defending champion Mexico over Guatemala 3-0 on Wednesday night in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

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Funes Mori, a 30-year-old born in Argentina, scored his second and third goals for Mexico. He made his debut in a June 3 exhibition against Nigeria and was playing his third international match.

Mexico had opened Group A with a 0-0 draw against Trinidad and Tobago, and Guatemala lost to El Salvador 2-0. Mexico closes the group stage against El Salvador on Sunday in Dallas.

In a match delayed by a storm, Funes Mori put El Tri ahead in the 29th minute, chesting a lofted pass from Hector Herrera just inside the penalty area, cutting the ball back to his right foot and beating goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen from 12 yards.

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Funes Mori doubled the lead in the 55th with a right-footed shot from 8 yards off a cross from Pineda, and Pineda added a goal on a 6-yard leaping header in the 79th from a Luis Rodriguez cross.

El Salvador beat Trinidad and Tobago to reach quarterfinals

At Frisco, Texas, El Salvador (2-0) assured itself a quarterfinals berth with a 2-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago.

[ LIVE: Full Gold Cup 2021 score page ]

Goals came from Jairo Henriquez in the 30th minute and Walmer Martinez in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.

The Soca Warriors have a draw and a loss going into Saturday’s game against Guatemala in Frisco.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP

Bayern Munich reveal Alphonso Davies injury update

Associated PressJul 12, 2021, 1:50 PM EDT
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MUNICH — Bayern Munich said Monday the injury which forced Canadian full-back Alphonso Davies out of the CONCACAF Gold Cup last week was a torn ankle ligament but that he won’t need surgery.

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Davies flew back to Munich from the tournament in the United States on Friday after he was hurt in training ahead of Canada’s opening game.

Bayern said the club “must do without Alphonso Davies until further notice” because of what it said was a torn anterior ligament in his left ankle. The 20-year-old is recovering in Munich and the club doesn’t expect he will need surgical intervention.

[ LIVE: Full Gold Cup 2021 score page ]

Bayern is starting its pre-season preparations and doesn’t have a competitive game until Aug. 6 in the first round of the German Cup.

Curacao out of CONCACAF Gold Cup for positive COVID tests

Associated PressJul 10, 2021, 8:58 AM EDT
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MIAMI — Curacao was dropped from the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Friday because of positive COVID tests and replaced by Guatemala.

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Ranked 76th, the island nation was to open Group A on Saturday against El Salvador in Frisco, Texas, then play Mexico on Wednesday in Dallas and Trinidad and Tobago on July 18 at Frisco.

“Ahead of the start of the Gold Cup group stage, all competing national teams went through several rounds of testing and, unfortunately, the Curacao delegation returned a significant number of positive results across their staff and players in the last round of testing,” CONCACAF said in a statement.

[ MORE: Gold Cup squads in full ]

“Although several players returned a negative test result, local state guidelines require several of them to isolate due to being close contacts of those who tested positive. In light of these circumstances, CONCACAF and the Curacao Football Federation have mutually agreed that Curacao will not participate in the Gold Cup.”

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Guatemala, ranked 127th, lost its second round qualifier to Guadeloupe 10-9 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.

CONCACAF said Guatemala was the next highest-ranked team available from qualifying, where Guatemala defeated Guyana 4-0 in the first round.

Guatemala is scheduled to open against El Salvador on Sunday in Frisco.

“CONCACAF and the Curacao Football Federation have made every effort to find a solution that would enable Curacao to compete, however the health and safety of the Curacao players and staff, and all participants in the tournament, must be prioritized,” CONCACAF said.

Predicting USMNT roster for summer tournaments

By May 11, 2021, 11:27 AM EDT
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The provisional USMNT roster for the CONCACAF Nations League finals has been released and Gregg Berhalter named a shortlist of 40 players.

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And that got us thinking: who will be playing for the USMNT in two friendlies, the Nations League finals and Gold Cup this summer?

The likely answer is those squads will be very different, especially for the Gold Cup, with a large chunk of the European-based USMNT stars given time off in July as the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams, among others, may give way to an MLS-heavy squad.

USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter has already hinted at chopping and changing his squad this summer, as he will keep a core group of guys he can rely on but rotate others in and out to keep everyone fresh.

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Berhalter also said that is what he plans to do for 2022 World Cup qualifying (which starts in September) as three-game windows mean it will be nearly impossible to play the same team for three games in less than 10 days.

Below is a look at my projected USMNT roster for the friendly against Switzerland (May 30) and then Nations League finals (23-man squad submitted on May 27), plus the friendly against Costa Rica (June 9) and then the Gold Cup.

Projected USMNT roster for Switzerland, Nations League finals: 23-man squad

Goalkeepers: Zack Steffen, Ethan Horvath, Matt Turner

Defenders: Sergino Dest, Reggie Cannon, Aaron Long, John Brooks, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Matt Miazga, Antonee Robinson

Midfielders: Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Giovanni Reyna, Sebastian Lletget, Christian Pulisic, Brenden Aaronson

Forwards: Josh Sargent, Daryl Dike, Tim Weah, Jordan Siebatcheu, Gyasi Zardes

On the bubble: Nicolas Gioacchini, Bryan Reynolds, Miles Robinson, Jackson Yueill, Paul Arriola, Walker Zimmerman, Kellyn Acosta, Sean Johnson

Projected USMNT roster for Costa Rica friendly, Gold Cup (July 10 to August 1): 23-man squad

Goalkeepers: Matt Turner, Sean Johnson, David Ochoa

Defenders: Kyle Duncan, Aaron Long, John Brooks, Julian Araujo, Miles Robinson, Walker Zimmerman, Sam Vines

Midfielders: Sebastian Lletget, Jackson Yueill, Paul Arriola, Kellyn Acosta, Cristian Roldan, Jonathan Lewis, Andres Perea, Michael Bradley

Forwards: Daryl Dike, Gyasi Zardes, Konrad de la Fuente, Ayo Akinola, Jozy Altidore