The U.S. men’s national team’s dreams of repeating as CONCACAF Nations League winners became a reality on Sunday night in Arlington, Texas.
Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna both started and scored in the USMNT’s 2-0 finals victory over rivals Mexico at AT&T Stadium. It marked the latest “Dos A Cero” triumph for Gregg Berhalter’s men over their biggest rivals, who next faces competitive action this summer at the 2024 Copa America.
It was almost a fast start for the USMNT after Reyna’s headed pass allowed Christian Pulisic to drive into the Mexico box. After finding room for a shot, Pulisic’s effort was punched away by Guillermo Ochoa in the fifth minute.
The USMNT fought to break the deadlock before halftime and Adams stepped up big time. Adams picked up possession outside of the Mexico box before unleashing a right-footed missile into the top-left corner for a 1-0 lead.
It marked Adams’ second USMNT goal and his first since a 2018 friendly win over Mexico in Nashville, Tennessee.
Gio Reyna doubled the USMNT’s lead in the 64th minute with a fine finish into the bottom-left corner. Mexico failed to clear its box after a cross from the left wing and Reyna’s follow-up volley rattled the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
Mexico thought it had a way back into the match from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute, but VAR overturned an original penalty-kick decision by referee Drew Fischer. Santiago Gimenez looked to have been hacked down by Antonee Robinson in the box, but the play was overturned and Gimenez was given a yellow card.
The USMNT shut things down defensively and held on to extend their current unbeaten run over El Tri to seven matches across all competitions. Fischer also brought two stoppages to the match due to discriminatory language being shouted in the stadium.
It marks the first trophy for the Americans since Gregg Berhalter’s return as head coach and a third overall under the former USMNT player. Reyna earned Player of the Tournament honors following the match while goalkeeper Matt Turner was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
The USMNT will next be in friendly action this June against Brazil and Colombia ahead of Copa America involvement.
Omar Gonzalez should not be touching the trophy he is a curse and the reason USA didn’t qualify for 2018 WC 😡
walks up to trophy, loses footing, shanks it in his own net.
Lol TIV 😂
who came out well: dest reyna adams wright. though i think dest should be a wing. if weah isn’t more effective dest should be pushing him for time. that’s as good as i have seen someone on the ball dribbling since maybe mathis.
who should have been more dangerous but were sloppy: pepi balogun christian. how many times was pulisic silver plattered and blew it?
who played badly: scally jedi johnny. scally might not make copa off this. i think you can get after our wingbacks too easy and better teams take advantage of it, the other two we will see if the coach even noticed. jedi gave up one to jamaica and nearly a PK to mexico. johnny we shall see if the staff notices when a one-half sub is getting blown by like he’s exhausted.
re some of the club form snobbery, i do wonder sometimes whether the phase of the european season played into who did what. some of the touted folks have been playing since july. some of the ones who looked more lively…..haven’t.
Clint Mathis?! Clint Mathis wasn’t a good dribbler. Bruce Murray, Claudio Reyna, Tab Ramos, Peter Vermes, Hugo Perez were dribblers. hell Earnie Stewart was a better dribbler than Mathis. Day drinking again, huh?! At some point, you’re going to have to admit your age. Only a fanboy would bring up, Clint Mathis
hopefully that was the end of “club form” silliness. couple of the key players of the weekend have a grand total of 57′ prem and 271′ B.1 between them.
i also hope this is the end of moralizing reyna. how many times does he have to do this before it gets remembered next time? how much penance must he serve for the sin of wanting to play more…..when it’s obvious by now he should have…..and when that’s hardly a bad quality in a player…..hunger.
Isn’t the problem with Reyna that (or when) he appears to expect to play – but maybe hasn’t earned it?
It appears to me that this is what happened to him at Dortmund (coupled with injuries), and probably leading up to the last World Cup. He expected to play, and then didn’t and then – from reports – didn’t handle the disappointment well.
When he is hungry and has a fire there is no doubt that Gio brings a creative quality that many on the USMNT do not. Sometimes though, the US needs a water carrier – and a guy like Aaronson may be better suited to that role. Aaronson is struggling this year to assert himself at the club level, and Gio is playing for the USMNT. Gio and Aaronson may not be like-for-like, but in a crowded midfield or 3 man front, they are competing to get into the 11.
We need to remember that Gio is still just turning into an adult and growing as a professional. Unfortunately, playing in Europe, from what I have read, those teams don’t allow for growing pains and maturity growth.
Here is hoping to a healthy remainder of the season for Gio and opportunities for him to show his talent and that hunger that IV mentions.
he was the best player on the field in the semi and our most productive attacker overall, hand in 3/5 of our goals. that is what should “earn it.” the rest is precisely the moralizing noise i have an issue with.
i think it probably resonates with me because i was angry i didn’t play in college game 1 frosh year. i subbed in game 2 in what was supposed to be garbage time and along with a couple other adds we nearly came back. so by game 3 i was starting. it still irks me to this day.
we may also share an iversonian view of practice. put me in a game and i will show you. bluntly the US needs to emphasize more who shows up on game day. whether wright took advantage of it or not, i was glad there was some turnover from game to 2 reflecting a squad of more serious players and those who played well game 1.
you’re also implying he is no effort in general in practice. i think if that was true we would have heard that specific comment sometime. what we heard was he started loafing in qatar after being told he was benched. which means the decision was already made. which means it’s not his general sin. i haven’t heard dortmund or forest saying he loafs around.
this is like you have a baby messi and are looking for excuses to bench him and play hustling slop like had jamaica up on us 1-0. we were trying very hard but not much concrete or skillful was happening. this needs a precision instrument. he is the best skill guy on the team. period. pulisic hogs the ball and tries to be The Guy. reyna calmly is That.
to me defense from a guy like reyna is gravy but i saw him putting in the work and breaking up some plays and rapidly transitioning. i think we need some guys on the field who their whole job is get us goals so everything isn’t 0-0 or 1-1 or 1-0 and crossing and so much hard work to net anything.
very good post Midwest Ref
it’s not moralizing, it’s reality…if Gio wants to play in Europe
I think Nuno gives him a shot after this two performances…not because of the O, but because of his D. Gio’s O has been there all the time, literally, a child can observe and appreciate and discuss it, yet still can’t get on the field consistently.
but the D will do it
Unless you are Lionel Messi, you must defend–Jurgen Klopp
folks can argue with him about it too if they want
“Isn’t the problem with Reyna that (or when) he appears to expect to play – but maybe hasn’t earned it?”
Whose call is it that Gio has “earned it” ?
IV’s? Yours?
If Gregg is calling you up for the Nations League, then, regardless of whether you play a minute, Gregg thinks you can play if called upon.
“It appears to me that this is what happened to him at Dortmund (coupled with injuries), and probably leading up to the last World Cup. He expected to play, and then didn’t and then – from reports – didn’t handle the disappointment well.”
So what? He was/is a first team professional at BVB. If he does not expect to play, there’s something wrong with him. If you are a pro then you expect to play. If you don’t then you don’t deserve to be paid. IV was never a pro player so he doesn’t seem to understand professional player ethics. Pro players are not paid to be humble.
In Qatar, Gio’s behavior was unprofessional but that was handled internally, by the team, the people most affected by Gio’s actions. Just ask Roldan or Ream. That’s in house business, and was over . Until it wasn’t.
But we all know how that went.
BVB have been taking a long term view with Gio and seem to be far more patient with him than y’all are. After all he was a sensation when he first came out and wasn’t old enough to drive. And they have a long history of dealing with players like him.
“When he is hungry and has a fire there is no doubt that Gio brings a creative quality that many on the USMNT do not. Sometimes though, the US needs a water carrier – and a guy like Aaronson may be better suited to that role.”
Sometimes? Like when? Brenden can’t play as a #10. He doesn’t have the skill. If you put him into the position you’ll get something but it won’t be what Gio gives you.
” Aaronson is struggling this year to assert himself at the club level, and Gio is playing for the USMNT. Gio and Aaronson may not be like-for-like, but in a crowded midfield or 3 man front, they are competing to get into the 11.”
??WTF? Brenden expects to play as well. But he’s sucked for nearly two years since he moved to Leeds and is lucky he’s still playing as much as he does. Unless he improves dramatically, he won’t be around much longer. These young pros think of themselves as starters not backups.
“We need to remember that Gio is still just turning into an adult and growing as a professional. Unfortunately, playing in Europe, from what I have read, those teams don’t allow for growing pains and maturity growth.. Here is hoping to a healthy remainder of the season for Gio and opportunities for him to show his talent and that hunger that IV mentions.”
As I see it , there’s no “problem” with Gio and he’s following a pretty normal career path.
Early success, injury, recovery, reset , build your way back. That’s what most of the other USMNT kids have gone through. Any of you follow Christian Pulisic, Timo Weah, Weston McKennie or Tyler Adams?
Look a little closer and you’ll see they what they went/ are going through isn’t very different from what Gio is going through.
IV, no one is against Reyna, stop with the victim card if you can
WE WANT HIM TO PLAY CLUB BALL TOO
the key to that is defending the way he just did…not pretending he doesn’t have to. no one is moralizing except you btw
did you hear what Clint Dempsey said? the same tune I’ve been singing to you about him…that it’s great to see Gio putting in the shift on D to complement his O
i don’t believe in the pressing crap other than situational. breaks the defensive shape, takes dumb risks, and runs our legs off. i don’t believe our front 4 should be picked for pressing. that’s a good way to lose games.
to me there should be a division of labor. we expect in key games for you to play your butt off both ends. we expect in normal games for you to keep shape, position yourself to psuh play in a direction we want, and hawk passing lanes and steal some balls. but only silly teams sit their playmaker over whether he plays defense all the time. the people who should be held to task for their defense should be 6s and AMs who don’t produce much.
and i say this as someone who believes in team defense but we have to score occasionally to win, no??
Weston Mckennie was great. Not in the spotlight for this game, but just played so simple and efficient. Cool to see.
he plays so consistently now, he does this at Juve too, not every single shift but mostly
I’ve come to the conclusion that people love to hear themselves talk. Kind of like the famous line from the movie, The kid stays in the picture. ‘Any man who thinks he knows women, knows nothing’. Might just be, you can talk so much, you take the joy out of it, and then forget that you’ve said something stupid to boot. Everyone is guilty of it. Some more than others.
It’s always really nice to take out our regional rival Mexico, it likely always will be. This was a very mature performance from the team and Gregg. The tepid response is actually a good sign. I was somewhat surprised at my own restrained response- in the past I’ve been sky high. I think we are beginning to outgrow this matchup being the center of US Soccer’s universe- the zenith of our expectations. 100% don’t take it for granted- handle our business, but it’s time to start setting our sights higher. Copa America will be a really really difficult test, a good place to begin that journey. And perhaps a good place to be humbled if we don’t come right.
The results were great and the two goals were great and a lot of players had good games. Berhalter’s decisions proved correct. I just have one problem. I watched the England vs. Brazil friendly the other day. It is probably on YouTube or somewhere and if you want to see high quality international soccer, I recommend you watch that game. The skill level was much higher, the pace of the game was much faster, and the intensity was equal to or exceeding the US vs. Mexico. The US has a long way to go to be a top 10 world team. A number of times there was such sloppy play on both sides I wondered how those guys were playing in top competition. At least we are the best team on the continent and we have potential if the young players continue to develop, but I wouldn’t get too excited by this win.
Yes let’s not be excited about beating our biggest rival in a final.
I think we all know the US still have to improve. But the this is the best team we have ever had, and the talent level is getting deeper. US U19’s just blasted Englands u19’s today. The u23 team blasted Guienea on Friday. Now we will see how the U23’s fair against France tomorrow.
Mexico really isn’t very good right now so I think that is why it is hard for me to get excited, as much as I like to beat them. Once again their fans showed themselves as having no class.
yeah, any game with mexico is a big game, even my wife was like ooooh i need to watch this one when sometimes she just checks out to another room with a tv. we should always want this one i am just saying maybe don’t lean so heavy on it for who starts in a world cup.
GP,
“I wouldn’t get too excited by this win”
That’s because you are not a USMNT fan. You probably have higher standards
In Gregg’s reign of error USMNT fans rarely see anything resembling a coherent performance . So when they see today’s game, it is shocking and unfamiliar.
I’ve never been excited by any of Gregg’s wins because I know he will follow it up with a stinker.
It’s true we did not beat France, Brazil or Argentina in a competitive game.
If you think the USMNT will get to the level where those teams are, on any kind of consistent basis, it probably won’t happen during your lifetime.
If you think any sane person believes the Mexico- US rivalry features Top 10 teams then you’re crazy
Mexico are a work in progress and not at our level but they were still a tough out. By the way, Univision should interview more of our Spanish speaking players in Spanish. I’ve seen them interview Landon in his hilariously bad spanish before and it is a hoot.
Anyway, you have to crawl before you can walk and a lot of times this team, with pretty much the same players, could barely make their way out of the rest room. They have looked worse in easier games. The only other time the team looked this good was during the last Nations League Final and that was under BJ, not Gregg.
They are not in any way, consistent. Greg is a flawed manager and this team is too inconsistent. So both have a ways to go yet.
But they are making progress even if it is at a glacial pace.
But if you expect Brazil level soccer don’t waste your time with CONCACAF Nations League.
Gary, I’m the one called Master of the Obvious. Did you just post that the US is not as skillful as Brazil and is not a world top ten team?
i have been saying this in different words. when we would applaud a personnel or tactics choice by our select coach he would tell us “we won’t really know if it is working til we play [FC],” our routine rival at state. people think i am minimizing regional success, which is nice, but it’s inconsistent and then we have had massive problems stepping up a notch or two. i agree that what really matters, if we have bigger goals, is whether it ever starts working on brazil and the like. too much of our ideas are decided by who looked good in some inconsequential game where we outmatched the opponent. we should be deciding things based on who shows up for germany, japan, holland, mexico. [i mean, one of my deals on the wingbacks and mids is that seems to get exploited every time we step up.]
i started to say, but it was on the weird roll out sod, but a quirk there is copa will be in similar venues as will the hosted games at world cup. it can be awkward at times — and i am not a fan — but it also may very well be the nature of some of the surfaces we play on in 2 years.
At one point in the first half, I thought this feels like USA vs Mexico 20 years ago except the USA had the possession and Mexico kept having to hoof it long because they couldn’t find passes out of the back. Then Mexico had a free kick at 41 minutes and I thought “man they’re going to score here in the last 5 mins of the half like they always do.” Then Tyler hits it and it’s the US taking the lead and the momentum into half. Especially the last 30 mins Mexico got a lot of the possession after it went 2-0, but we still finished up 53-47, something that didn’t happen much until the last five years. Yes, Mexican is down, yes the offense still wasn’t perfect in creating tons of chances but we finished two chances and really snuffed out almost every chance Mexico had.
I was thinking the same thing. And then in the 2nd half Alvarez goes studs up and three calls go against the US and I’m thinking, uh oh, here it comes. But it didn’t. US has better players. That is a new thing. I think Mexico still had the better player at the first Nations League but I think US has the better player the last as the young players improved. The team with the better players usually wins.
JR
1. This version of El Tri is better than what Tata was fielding but they are still two- three players if not more inferior to us. Give them Weston, Gio and Sergino and they would look a lot better.
2. I was dismissive of Memo earlier. I was wrong. He was awesome and it could have been 4 or 5-0 if not for him.
3. Dest had his buddy Chucky pretty well under control. Sergino and Jedi tooks turns orchestrating the attacks very well.
4. Memo was what they call “unsighted” on Tyler’s blast was 40?? yards out. It first went through one Mexican player’s legs and then another Mexican defender screened so Memo barely got a look before it was on him. Not that he was going to stop it. Most unbelievable goal I’ve seen in a very long time. Honestly, when I saw him shoot I was immediately worried about his hamstring before I realized that he had scored.
5. Gio’s goal was one of those “almost an accident” goals in that the ball came back out to him so fast that he seemed to barely be aware of it before he wacked it back in. You see those in training every once in a great while but never think you will see them in a real game. The point being, both goals were well deserved, came out of the blue and were a complete but pleasant shock.
6. Gregg gambled starting the less than match fit Tyler and Gio. I think he wanted to get ahead early knowing that even if they came back we had better depth and the odds favored us as the game went on.
He had Pepi ready even though we wound up not needing his magic.
Johnny was a little nervous and amped up but settled in well.
Wright probably moved from the fringes to closer to the core.
Ream showed why reports of his demise are a little exaggerated.
Almost certainly Gregg’s best game overall.
re adams’ goal, you’re not giving him enough credit. it felt to me like they had been told to go near post on ochoa. like that he would over-anticipate the action and start drifting across with the direction of play, and leave his near post open. adams kind of feinted one of our patented, no-effect side to side switches, mexico started shifting as did ochoa, and he cut off, turned to goal, went back near post.
this is precisely the occasional “long shot” you will remember i was suggesting mid-week. what we need is less switch and cross and more that sometimes dest, reyna, or someone like that just goes to goal and has a crack. at a higher level it helps if some goals are occasionally cheap and everything isn’t blood and guts or sheer luck. set pieces, shots top of the “d.”
IV: Well Tyler had been celebrating for awhile when he and Christian did an onset with Kate, Duece, Jesse, and Charlie but Marsch said “do you know what I was yelling when you got the ball?” Tyler “yeah far post chip! Gregg was yelling that two” so take that for what you will.
“re adams’ goal, you’re not giving him enough credit.”
?? I wrote :”Not that he was going to stop it. Most unbelievable goal I’ve seen in a very long time. ” How much more credit can I give Adams?
” it felt to me like they had been told to go near post on ochoa. like that he would over-anticipate the action and start drifting across with the direction of play, and leave his near post open. adams kind of feinted one of our patented, no-effect side to side switches, mexico started shifting as did ochoa, and he cut off, turned to goal, went back near post.”
Keepers used to be told that you should never give up a goal on your near post. I don’t think that applies anymore. Starting with last night go back a few years and watch every goal highlight you can from every competition you can find.
It’s amazing how many near post goals are given up these days.
“this is precisely the occasional “long shot” you will remember i was suggesting mid-week. what we need is less switch and cross and more that sometimes dest, reyna, or someone like that just goes to goal and has a crack. at a higher level it helps if some goals are occasionally cheap and everything isn’t blood and guts or sheer luck. set pieces, shots top of the “d.”
You’re overthinking this.
A 35-40 yard banger is, in almost all cases and with almost any team, a matter of individual brilliance. That shot remains a low percentage proposition. And when it works, it is often because , in great part it is unexpected.
Technically most of the players can make that shot. But you need a certain kind of mentality to be willing to take it. American players and coaches inherently resist low percentage actions. So don’t expect any manager not just Uncle Gregg to encourage it being done on a regular basis..
Adams, Gio, Weston, CP, DEst, Weah, guys like that are allowed to free lance.
Lower on the totem pole? Maybe not so much. If Joe Scally took one, and missed, he’d be at DFW before the game was over.
Pretty quiet from the naysayers right now.
Awfully quite here for winning a championship. My TV went out right before both goals. How statistically unlikely was that?
we just saw Gio’s best shift ever in the uniform imo
not necessarily incredible in attack, even with the superb goal
but defensively, he wasn’t just good, he was a force and a key difference maker, many times. two games in a row both sides of the ball
come on Nuno…play him man!!
Yeah he was good. If he continues to build up that side of his game, he will be force.
dude, i don’t think much of anyone cares if mbappe or messi work supremely hard on defense. most teams handle this by division of labor. formation and personnel designed to handle defense while the technician does the offense. i personally thought it was crazy we had him coming way back like a HS point guard trying to get on the ball, or that his key chance is basically playing garbageman.
i was pleased GB rewarded the jamaica performers starts. but reyna was actually poorly deployed last night.
IV you do that so Adams doesn’t have to be the distributor. We’ve seen some teams press Tyler in the middle or like the Netherlands lay off Tyler and get in the passing lanes. Nancy does this with Nagbe and Morris sliding them over to the sideline creates overloads and then allows big switches that the Crew exploit. Gio was able to then either go up the sideline or send the long diagonal (football field made that harder with its narrowness). I’m not sure it was the best use of Reyna but perhaps it saved his legs a little and helped keep possession. And maybe it showed Forest he can do multiple things.
IV, you’re wrong again
Messi and Mbappe? Gio is on the pine at Forest, good grief you’re a mess man
and the way off the bench? proving he can defend like he di last night. it is THE KEY to Gio playing more.
and mostly because…no pro will play with a kid who won’t put out on D harder than he is…they will not accept hi,
you understand this, right?
on Gio dropping, we’ve done it before to great effect, but when Mexico didn’t press, we adjusted nicely
Berhalter’s decision to start Adams and Reyna, neither match-fit, paid off in this game. Both played well, and made a difference. Belhalter deserves the credit for the lineup and sub rotation.
Bench depth and team cohesion also made the difference tonight. Cardoso instead of Musah in the 2nd half, and we kept the shutout. No drop off when Balogun came on for a tiring Wright. Ream showed his veteran quality in this match, while Miles Robinson’s speed was a better fit for Jamaica. We’re in good shape for Copa.
i thought cardoso looked poor. and i say that as someone who thinks we should be trialing DM options as adams contingencies and/or as the guy off the bench or folks to allow us to play twin 6s. there was a marked difference in transition defense second half and sometimes we were just getting blown by — a US problem ever since this generation got together, other than when adams is top of his game.
I think Turner could do well in another league like the Bundesliga.
Ream was definitely the best CB on the field. Really hope he either fights doe his spot back with Fulham or gets another team in the off season.
Agreed. Ream was great. He made a lot of positional recoveries.