In rather embarrassing fashion, the United States men’s national team was dumped out of the Gold Cup two years ago by Jamaica. The Americans appeared completely unprepared for the Reggae Boyz’ counter attack and got carved up, losing 2-1 in the semifinal. In Wednesday’s Gold Cup final, the USMNT has an opportunity to avenge that defeat and take the first step towards qualifying for the next Confederations Cup.
USA vs. Jamaica 2017: Start time, TV channel for Gold Cup final
The USMNT faces the team that embarrassed them in the last Gold Cup.
Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
The Americans struggled through the group stage of this year’s Gold Cup, leading Bruce Arena to call in serious reinforcements. Since the top players joined up, the USMNT has looked like the best team at the tournament. All of Michael Bradley, Darlington Nagbe, Tim Howard, Jozy Altidore, and Clint Dempsey have turned in excellent performances over the last two matches after coming into the team.
Like many of the teams at this year’s Gold Cup, Jamaica has left many of its top players at home, but the Reggae Boyz have showed off more depth than most observers thought they had. And over the weekend, they made the final thanks to a spectacular free kick by Kemar Lawrence, whose goal sunk Mexico in a 1-0 win for Jamaica.
The USMNT is favored coming into the final, but certainly can’t be expected to run away with the victory. Howard has had to bail out a shaky defense repeatedly over the last two matches, so Jamaica seems likely to manufacture some good chances on the break.
Match info and how to watch USMNT vs. Jamaica
Date/time: Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.
TV: FS1 (U.S. - English), Univision (U.S. - Spanish)
Online: Fox Sports Go, Fox Soccer Match Pass (U.S. - English), Univision Deportes en vivo (U.S. - Spanish)
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