Hosts and defending champions US were knocked out by Jamaica in what was undoubtedly the biggest shock of the tournament so far. PHOTO: AFP
The Americans were beaten 2-1 on Wednesday by the “Reggae Boyz” while Mexico needed extra time and two goals from the spot to overcome 10-man Panama 2-1.
That set the stage for a consolation match replay of a US-Panama group stage meeting that ended in a 1-1 draw.
Both sides need to move on quickly from the defeats in the semi-finals. Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez called his team’s loss a robbery thanks to poor referee calls, while the Americans deal with a humbling loss to a team that had beaten them only once in 22 prior meetings.
“There’s no choice but to move ourselves forward,” said US captain Michael Bradley. “Obviously it’s a disappointment. But we will be back at it. There’s no other way to go.”
US goalkeeper Brad Guzan pointed to away wins last month against top-10 foes — 4-3 against the Dutch and 2-1 against reigning World Cup champion Germany — to say the loss was not a spirit crusher for the Americans. “It’s disappointing, but we will pick ourselves up. It doesn’t make us a bad team,” said Guzan. “It doesn’t erase a lot of the good stuff we’ve done.”
What it will do is force the US to play the winner of Sunday’s final for a berth in the 2017 Confederations Cup.
“It’s a loss in a tournament that was very important for us, but now we’ve got to pick ourselves up and make sure we’re ready for the playoff,” said Guzan. “We want to make sure we go in and put together a good performance and finish this Gold Cup on a high.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2015.
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