The United States advance to the Gold Cup semi-finals, ousting Canada on penalties

Doug McIntyre

football reporter

US goalkeeper Matt Turner made two saves in the penalty shootout after a thrilling 2-2 draw against Canada that sent the hosts through to the semi-finals of the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup in Cincinnati on Sunday.

USMNT will take it on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and the Fox Sports app) in San Diego.

Here are three conclusions after Sunday’s game.

USMNT vs Canada Highlights

USMNT showed character in comeback

After 88 scoreless minutes, the Americans seemed to have won the game on a spectacular goal from second-half substitute and FC Cincinnati forward Brandon Vazquez. But Canada equalized a few minutes later with a Steven Vitoria penalty, and the visitors looked set to go into extra time as Jacob Scheffleberg put them ahead 2–1 with only seven minutes left in extra time. .

At that time America seemed dead and buried. But the home team made the best of the game all night, outscoring Canada 21–5 (8–2 on goals) at halftime, and that relentless pressure paid off when Reds defender Scott Kennedy fumbled the ball. Kept it with you. A penalty kick netted a minute later to set up the tiebreaker.

Canada’s costly own goal in overtime equalizes against USMNT

Turner, the only starter on this Gold Cup roster for the USMNT’s 2022 World Cup roster, was not about to turn down a chance to play the hero.

“I really trusted my instincts,” Turner told Fox Sports after the game, adding that the Canadian shooters he had been doing his homework on before the skills challenge started had changed. “Usually when I do that, I find myself to be a lot more successful.”

The first of Turner’s two shootout saves came against Vitoria, whose successful attempt from 12 yards out in stoppage time of the second half sent the game into extra time. The mostly pro-American crowd at TQL Stadium fell silent as local hero Vazquez smashed USA’s next attempt over the crossbar, but Turner regained the supporters’ advantage and confidence by stopping the next kicker as well.

The hosts put their next three attempts on the backburner.

“He really gave the whole group a sense of composure to execute,” said US interim head coach BJ Callaghan.

And it wasn’t just Turner. When the shorthanded US wasn’t playing particularly well that night and could have easily lost, they found a way to pull ahead. Callaghan’s team will need to play better – much better – for the Americans to achieve their ultimate goal of being Gold Cup champions again. Either way, the fight they showed when they looked all but losers on Sunday will surely hold these players in good stead for the rest of the tournament and beyond.

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Ultimately. It took a long time for the US to advance in the game, allowing Canada to slowly but surely advance in the game as time went on.

“For us, I thought it was a slow start,” Callaghan said. “I felt there was a lack of rhythm, pace and control throughout the first half.”

Part of that came down to the tough tackling, physical play. And as the teams came together to chat before leaving the field after half-time, it was clear that a spirited final 45 minutes (or more) lay ahead.

Whatever the second half lacked in quality, it was made up for in drama as two of CONCACAF’s four participants in the 2022 World Cup clapped and almost missed before Vazquez looked certain to be a storybook winner .

The fact that three more goals were scored before the game went to penalties shows just how insane it was. Give a lot of credit to Canada too. The Reds weren’t exactly good in the group stage, and it looked like US depth would win the day with relative ease, with both rivals missing headliners. Eventually it did, but only by the narrowest possible margin. Make no mistake: While the US has beaten them in two tournaments in the last three weeks, the Canadians are a worthy foe and they’re here to stay.

USMNT beat Canada on penalties to enter Gold Cup semi-finals

intriguing panama awaits you

Little has been said about whether or not this was the most inspirational American performance ever (and it was not). Americans should recover quickly and be ready for the Panamanians, who on Saturday ease into Qatar and get an extra day of rest.

“They are a really good team. We know them, we’ve played against them a lot,” Callaghan said. “They have shown they have depth, so we expect a really competitive game against a well-rounded team with high intensity. We have to do our best.”

After enjoying a full week off between the end of the group stage and Sunday’s quarterfinals, the Americans have only three days to recover before facing each other. los canaleros,

“We have a rapid turnaround [but] We’re a deep team,” Turner said. “Shouldn’t be a problem turning our legs to San Diego.”

Doug McIntyre is a football writer for Fox Sports. Prior to joining Fox Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer at ESPN and Yahoo Sports and has covered the United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @by Doug McIntyre,

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