No big stars? No problem for the second-string US Men’s National Team, which reclaimed the CONCACAF Gold Cup on home soil with a dramatic 1-0 extra-time win against fierce rivals Mexico in the final.
It’s another big accolade for Gregg Berhalter, who already has a couple of pieces of silverware under his belt as USMNT boss. Meanwhile, the big awards have also been handed out for the standout players in the tournament.
So to put a bow on the now-concluded Gold Cup, here are SBOTOP’s top takeaways following the final, as well as a quick wrap-up of the top awards.
Gregg Berhalter building winning mentality with USMNT
Gregg Berhalter will likely be the first to admit that this Gold Cup title certainly wasn’t pretty. The USMNT won all but one of their six matches by a 1-0 scoreline. And the US rode their luck a fair bit in the semi-final against Qatar and in the final against Mexico, who were clearly the dominant side in the final with 22-14 edge in terms of shots.
But that was to be expected with the US missing so many of their top stars, particularly star forwards Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna.
So Berhalter deserves credit for altering his tactics to his second-string squad, and his players – particularly the defenders – deserve a lot of credit for executing those tactics well enough to win the title.
That’s now two titles in two months for Berhalter, both of which have come in dramatic circumstances against rivals Mexico.
This tournament was a triumph in terms of finding out that there is a bit more depth that Berhalter can call upon in future international tournaments. And perhaps more importantly, he is slowly but surely building a winning mentality within that setup that should serve the USMNT well moving forward.
Mexico’s Tata Martino has work to do
Things could have gone much differently for Mexico if star Hirving Lozano had not suffered a serious head injury in their first match. The Napoli forward likely would have been the best player in the tournament and Mexico would have had that much-needed cutting edge up front.
But even with Lozano absent, the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2021 odds still had the Mexicans favoured, and they had every opportunity to beat the US in the final, which they did not take.
That defeat, as well as their CONCACAF Nations League loss against the US back in June, should serve as wake-up calls for Martino: The USMNT will be a force to reckon with for the foreseeable future, so Mexico must be ready.
Best Player: Hector Herrera, Mexico
With Lozano out, Hector Herrera stepped up to lead the Mexicans in the tournament. The Atletico Madrid midfielder was at the heart of Mexico’s system throughout the tournament, with his calming presence and concise passing a major part of their success.
Herrera becomes the eighth Mexican to win the Best Player award, but unfortunately, he also became the first to win it without winning the Gold Cup as well.
Golden Boot: Almoez Ali, Qatar
Qatar were without question the surprise team of this year’s Gold Cup. The invitees stormed their way to the semi-finals as they displayed some impressive attacking prowess.
Qatar produced more than their fair share of CONCACAF Gold Cup 2021 highlights with 12 goals in their five games, four of which were scored by Golden Boot winner Almoez Ali. Ali just finished above a number of players with three goals, a list that also included team-mate Abdulaziz Hatem and the Mexican duo of Rogelio Funes Mori and Orbelin Pineda.
The 24-year-old Ali, who was also the leading scorer in Qatar’s 2019 Asian Cup triumph, now has an impressive 34 goals in 66 caps for his country and is now just eight goals shy of becoming the all-time leading scorer. Ali looks more than ready to lead the line for Qatar when they host next year’s World Cup.
Best Young Player: Tajon Buchanan, Canada
Canada continue to produce talented and exciting wingers who break out in the Gold Cup. In 2017 it was Alphonso Davies, who won the Young Player award. In 2019 it was Jonathan David, who won the Golden Boot at just 19 years old but lost out on the Young Player award to Christian Pulisic.
And this year, it’s Tajon Buchanan’s turn to join that growing list. The 22-year-old winger, who plays for the New England Revolution in the MLS, provided some much-needed pace and energy to a Canadian team that performed well once again with a semi-final finish despite missing both Davies and David.
Buchanan’s award is just another reminder that Canada are becoming quite a force in CONCACAF and look set to compete for titles in the coming years.
Best Goalkeeper: Matt Turner, USA
Talk about a fairytale tournament for Matt Turner. The 27-year-old had had just one international cap to his name before being called up to be the team’s No. 1 goalkeeper for the Gold Cup.
Turner certainly didn’t disappoint as he conceded just one goal in the entire tournament (a penalty) and kept five clean sheets. Turner also came up huge in the final against Mexico as he made some crucial saves to push the game into extra-time.
It will take a bit more to dethrone Man City’s Zack Steffen from the No. 1 spot, but Turner obviously helped his case to at least be part of the squad moving forward with his impressive performances, which made him a worthy winner of the Best Goalkeeper award.
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