USA vs. Jamaica, Gold Cup 2015: Reggae Boyz knock out the USMNT

International soccer is the ultimate in small samples. In many ways, the volume of results is even smaller than it is for college football. Few games truly matter, and for the United States, most of those that do are against smaller Caribbean or Central American countries.

Meanwhile, friendlies can be interpreted with whatever spin you choose. Overreact to bad losses and ignore good wins? Go for it. Direct opposite? Have at it. You’re somewhat correct either way.

2. How did we not score in the first 25 minutes? They really shouldn’t have lost, though. They had the better chances, especially in the opening minutes. By the time Darren Mattocks scored, the USMNT really should have been up by two goals.

In a vacuum, this was their best performance of the Gold Cup.

For the first time since 2003, the United States failed to make the Gold Cup final. They were eliminated on Wednesday by Jamaica, who beat them 2-1 in Atlanta.

While the U.S. was the better team early, there were signs of danger before they went behind. Giles Barnes should have scored when he was served a ball on a silver platter at the penalty spot in the 27th minute, but fluffed a wide-open shot that he should have buried.

It’s a bit strange that Bradley is finally being returned to his best position after playing in a couple of different ones for most of the last year, but we’ll take it.

That’s a 4-4-2 with Simon Dawkins dropped to the bench. Darren Mattocks isn’t as technical, but is quite a bit quicker than the man he’s replacing.

Here’s what you should keep an eye on during the match if you want to know how things are going for the Americans.

The USMNT lineup has been listed as a midfield diamond in all of their games, but it hasn’t always been the same functionally. Gyasi Zardes and DeAndre Yedlin are wide players, not central midfielders who push wide when necessary. They’ve often played an unbalanced midfield, with one winger and one shuttling midfielder in an attempt to balance their need for numbers in midfield with width. It’s unorthdox, but it’s worked just fine.

After a tough, but comfortable group stage and a very easy quarterfinal, the United States finally face a serious test in a must-win game on Wednesday. Jamaica are the best team the USMNT have played yet, and they look capable of springing an upset.

Jamaica have sneakily been the second-best team in this tournament, topping a group that included Costa Rica. Though they would have liked a more comfortable win, the Reggae Boyz got here by defeating Haiti 1-0 in their semifinal. Giles Barnes scored in the 6th minute and his team never relinquished their lead. That was their third consecutive clean sheet, following their opening 2-2 draw against Los Ticos, so Clint Dempsey and company aren’t likely to find scoring easy.