Surrendering four consecutive goals with a tattered defense, the United States squandered a chance to defeat Mexico in the Gold Cup final on Saturday and also missed out on a crucial dress rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup.
As champion of the North American, Central American and Caribbean region, Mexico will participate in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil, a warm-up for the World Cup that will be played there a year later.
As champion of the North American, Central American and Caribbean region, Mexico will participate in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil, a warm-up for the World Cup that will be played there a year later.
Participation in the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa provided the Americans with invaluable preparation for the 2010 World Cup. They got a feel for the cold weather, the altitude and the stadiums. And they gained confidence by defeating No. 1-ranked Spain and taking a two-goal lead against Brazil before losing 3-2 in the Confederations Cup final — an outcome not dissimilar to Saturday’s 4-2 collapse against Mexico before 93,420 people at the Rose Bowl.
Clearly, Mexico deserved to win this gripping match with its superior attacking ability, speed and persistence. El Tri won with a style and character that should be familiar to the Americans: falling behind early, refusing to surrender, prevailing with steadfast resolve.
The United States, meanwhile, was left with a reshuffled and frayed defense. Early on, center backs Clarence Goodson and Carlos Bocanegra struggled with the predatory timing of forward Javier Hernandez. Then right back Steve Cherundolo limped off with a sprained left ankle in the 11th minute, leaving the Americans without their steadiest defender.
“Anytime you have to take someone that strong out of the back line so early, it’s going to mix things up,” Bocanegra, the American captain, said in a postgame interview with Fox Sports.
Coach Bob Bradley inserted Jonathan Bornstein at left back and shifted Eric Lichaj from left back to right back. Neither seemed comfortable. Neither was up to the job. Bornstein was particularly vulnerable to the searing runs of forward Giovani dos Santos and winger Pablo Barrera. His continued place on the roster appears uncertain with World Cup qualifying ahead.
In the 29th minute, with the United States up 2-0, Barrera sprinted past Bornstein and lashed a shot inside the right post, giving Mexico inexorable momentum.
Seven minutes later, dos Santos cut inside Bornstein on the right side of the penalty area and crossed toward Hernandez at the far post. Lichaj got a foot on the ball, but he was off balance and stumbled and could not clear it. Andres Guardado swooped in just ahead of goalkeeper Tim Howard and his shot trickled into the net, tying the score at 2-2.
An insufficient clearance by Bocanegra left the United States exposed again in the 50th minute and Barrera delivered his second goal. Mexico was ahead to stay, 3-2. Then, in the 76th minute, dos Santos scored one of the most exquisite goals of the tournament.
Two years ago, he also harassed the United States in the Gold Cup final, a 5-0 victory by Mexico, but that was against a lineup of second-stringers. Saturday, dos Santos faced the American A team and he was equally bedeviling. He deftly skittered past Howard, who lunged at him and swiped at the ball while on his knees. And he chipped a shot toward the left post, just over the head of Lichaj, just beneath the crossbar. Mexico took a 4-2 lead and Howard could only slap at the turf in agony.
“Overall, it was frustrating,” Bocanegra said. “They spread us out. Our back line, we couldn’t figure it out. Defensively, we weren’t good enough.”
Yet, the Gold Cup was as much a testing ground as a competition. And as the United States approaches the next World Cup qualifying cycle, it can take some encouragement in the emergence of Lichaj at left back, the assuredness of Alejandro Bedoya on the wing, the scrappiness of Jermaine Jones in midfield (though he has curious stretches of torpor) and the rejuvenation of Freddy Adu after two years away from the national team.
Once he was saddled with the ridiculous task of “saving” United States soccer, as if it were an endangered species. Now Adu is 22, no longer burdened with the expectations of a teenage prodigy. During the Gold Cup, he spoke soberly about the responsibilities of professionalism. He lacks speed and surrenders the ball too often, but Adu can pass smartly, threaten on set pieces and dribble inventively in cramped spaces. His willingness to play in the Turkish second division signaled to Bradley that Adu had matured and was determined to redeem his stalled career.
“In a lot of ways, I took it for granted before,” Adu told reporters during the Gold Cup. “When you haven’t been here a while, you really appreciate just being around the guys and just being on a national team and just knowing that you really have to earn it.”
In the semifinals, a long diagonal pass from Adu helped set up the lone goal in the 1-0 victory over Panama. On Saturday, Adu started in midfield and had a hand — or, more precisely, a foot — in both American goals. His corner kick in the 8th minute was headed into the net by Michael Bradley. In the 23rd minute, Adu squared a pass to Clint Dempsey, who found Landon Donovan slicing through the penalty area for a 2-0 advantage for the United States, one that its disheveled back line could not protect.
“We’re disappointed,” Bob Bradley said at a post-game news conference. “A game like this, when you’re together for a month, you feel like you’ve grown and put yourself in the final and let it get away…it’s an empty feeling.”
