The 2017 Gold Cup is coming to a conclusion. On Wednesday, we’ll see the final when the United States will take on Jamaica. The Americans were supposed to be here – they are one of the stronger teams entering the tournament – while Jamaica staged a major upset to make it to the final. Let’s take a closer look at the matchup.
What You Need To Know About United States
The United States defeated Costa Rica 2-0 in the semifinals, but again, they didn’t look very good, which has been the theme of this tournament. It wasn’t until they brought on Clint Dempsey that the Americans looked threatening as Dempsey set up Jozy Altidore for a goal in the 72nd minute, which was six minutes after he came on. Dempsey scored ten minutes later from a free kick to equal Landon Donovan’s record for the national team at 57, but the Americans shouldn’t have had this much trouble with Costa Rica. They brought in the likes of Altidore, Dempsey and Michael Bradley after struggling through the group stages, but here they are, on the cusp of their sixth Gold Cup win.
What You Need To Know About Jamaica
Jamaica, on the other hand, were underdogs against Mexico and for good reason. However, the Jamaicans were resolute in their defending and a free kick from Kemar Lawrence in the 88th minute was the difference. Jamaica won 1-0 and are going back to the Gold Cup final for the second time in a row after losing to Mexico in the 2015 final. It was a fantastic team performance from Jamaica led by goalkeeper Andre Blake, who made a few big saves and has been great throughout this entire tournament. The Jamaicans showed that they weren’t scared of Mexico, going forward whenever they got a chance and when it came time to take the free kick, a number of Jamaican players wanted to take it. However, Lawrence won out and it was a great result for Jamaica.
Outlook
The United State is the favorite going into this match at -220, while Jamaica comes in at -706 and a draw is slated at +300. These two have met 26 times with the United States winning 15 times, while there have been nine draws with two wins for Jamaica. However, one of those came in the semifinal of the 2015 Gold Cup in another match they weren’t expected to win, so Jamaica knows that they’re playing with house money in Santa Clara. They’re likely to let the United States have a lot of the possession and then try to hit them on the counterattack as Jamaica has plenty of speed down the wins. The Americans have been shaky at the back and all it takes is one goal to go through. When it comes to to squad talent, the Americans should have this game sewed up. However, Jamaica has been playing with no fear and they know they can beat the United States in their country, even though they lost a friendly by a score of 1-0 in Tennessee in February. The Americans should win, but don’t be surprised if the Jamaicans get a famous Gold Cup win and shock the masses.
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