Well, I think we’re going to wrap up here. USA must be desperately disappointed, but they conceded two poor goals, and gave themselves too much to do. They played well, but so did Jamaica, and it’s the Reggae Boyz in the final on Sunday. Congratulations to them; commiserations to USA. Thanks so much for reading: good night.
Landon Donovan gives a good summation:
Really disappointing result. Give Jamaica credit, they played hard. Feel bad for the guys, know how badly they wanted it.
— Landon Donovan (@landondonovan) July 23, 2015
Caitlin Murray was watching the game: here’s her on-the-whistle match report:
Did USA deserve to go out? Well, they conceded two really poor goals, and I suppose they just left themselves too much to do. They pressed hard in that second half, and Johannsson and Zardes went close, but just couldn’t find a second goal. Jamaica deserved it, probably, on balance. USA keep conceding bad goals, and it’s a problem for Klinsmann and the gang.
Jamaica’s game management in those last few minutes was just excellent. Cynical, maybe, but they stopped all the USA’s momentum. Congratulations to the Reggae Boyz.
Alexi Lalas on Fox is brutal: “This was a failure. This was not losing to Mexico in a final. This was Jamaica, and this was a failure.”
What an amazing effort by Jamaica. They’re going crazy, and quite rightly: it’s only their second win over USA, and they’re into their first Gold Cup final.
Full-time: USA 1-2 Jamaica
That’s it! Jamaica are in their first final, and USA are out!
90 min + 3: Seconds remaining. Jamaica have done very well this past few minutes to kill the clock. Brooks is beaten in the air by Mariappa. Any time left??!!
90 min + 2: Watson does so well to hook it clear: survive this 90 seconds and Jamaica are in the final. Now Hector goes in bravely and Gordon is penalised for a high boot. Ooh, that’s a harsh call. Schafer is celebrating on the bench, but it’s not over yet!
Final change for Jamaica: Joel Grant on, McCleary off.
Updated
90 min + 1: Zardes’s ball in for Yedlin is too strong. Schafer is thrilled with that. Two minutes left.
90 min: We’re in the last minute, and Jamaica are in USA’s right-back slot. Excellent from McAnuff. Now McCleary wins another corner! They’ve just killed about two minutes since that Yedlin foul. Three minutes of stoppage time. Shot from Watson: Guzan saves.
89 min: Jamaica want to play in the corner. And they force a corner! Perfect for them.
88 min: Great header from Morgan, and now the Leicester man goes into the USA half! But a brainless ball in from Humphrey gives it back to Guzan, and now Morgan is out of position. Hector heads away: he’s been brilliant. Now Yedlin bumps McCleary and is booked: that’s a terrible foul to give away. The momentum is lost.
Updated
87 min: USA are desperate. Guzan wellies it long, Gordon wins the header, but it won’t fall to a white jersey! Thompson has it: how has he not been whistled for time wasting?
86 min: Brooks is playing as a center-forward now. But McCleary takes it into the corner and wins a crucial throw. USA need to get the ball up the other end.
85 min: Bradley’s ball in beats everyone. It’s out for a goal kick.
83 min: Time running out for USA. Jamaica are just hanging on, but they have the lead, crucially. USA need to find something. Change for Jamaica: Barnes out, Christopher Humphrey on.
82 min: USA have pushed so many forward, and that was a clear chance for Jamaica on the break, but McCleary was crowded out after Barnes took a bad touch. They could have sealed it there: Barnes was one-on-one against Diskerud.
81 min: Schafer is whistling furiously, like Roger Whittaker at a folk music festival. Thompson has a heart-in-mouth moment from Morgan’s backpass, but the keeper does well. Now Dempsey forces a corner. It’s tense!
80 min: USA reckon Thompson is time-wasting at these goal kicks, and they’re right: he’s taking an age. Boos as Lawrence went in on Yedlin, but that was probably a fair tackle. Now Evans is penalised, and Jamaica can have a breather.
79 min: Final change for USA: DeAndre Yedlin in for Alejandro Bedoya.
78 min: Jamaica seem happy with what they have: they’re very quick to fall back into their defensive shape. Bradley has a go from distance, and it’s deflected wide, but Jamaica can’t clear: it keeps coming back! Then Gordon meets Bedoya’s cross, but it’s straight at Thompson.
76 min: Great tackle from Michael Hector to deny Bradley! It was a surging run from midfield but Hector moved smoothly across to get a foot in. Evans with another long throw, but Gordon is penalised.
74 min: With his long hair and distinctive goatee beard, Alan Gordon is the most un-Alan like person in the history of football. He’s more of a Fabio, I’d say, or maybe a D’Artagnan. He’s got 16 minutes to make a difference. Jamaica hack clear.
Updated
72 min: Eighteen minutes to go, and Jamaica look spent. Evans is playing almost like a right-winger. But here come the Reggae Boyz on the counter … and it comes to nothing, although that’s a much-needed spell of possession.
Change for USA: Alan Gordon on for Aron Johannsson. It’s only Gordon’s second cap.
71 min: Jamaica had about nine players in the box, then, as Johnson looked to go clear on the left. It’s all hands to the pump, and USA have pushed the right back. It’s not quite an onslaught, but it’s going to get bloodier, that’s for sure. Long throw from Evans, but Brooks can only head straight at Thompson!
69 min: McCleary runs at Johnson, and wins another corner. They’ve been poor from set pieces, and that’s not much better: Hector is crowded out, and it’s a goal kick.
67 min: Chance for Zardes! Evans did well, and Dempsey dummied, but Mariappa did just enough to put Zardes off, and the shot was high and wide. Should that have been a corner?
Diskerud on for Beckerman, who’s taken his shirt off. Show-off.
66 min: Jamaica are sitting pretty deep now. But in McCleary and Barnes they do offer a threat the other way: I think McCleary has been excellent tonight.
65 min: It’s just settled down a little after a madcap 15 minutes or so. Thompson needs something to settle his nerves: a Xanax, maybe, or at least a cup of sweet tea. A change for USA is imminent Mix Diskerud is coming in.
63 min: That was much better from Jamaica: McCleary fed Mariappa, and he crossed well, but Barnes just mistimed his jump. Schafer has ditched his jacket: he’s nervy.
60 min: Another USA corner. Here’s my #analysis: it’s only a matter of time until they score again. Jamaica are really struggling in defence.
Change for Jamaica: Simon Dawkins in for Mattocks.
Updated
59 min: Now a chance for Dempsey! He got a clear contact, but it hit Morgan, and dribbled just wide. USA really pressing here.
57 min: Off the post from Bradley! Zardes fed the Toronto man, and Bradley just slammed one from distance: it swerved and dipped, and Thompson did just about enough to deflect it on to the post, and Jamaica hack clear. I’m not sure Thompson knew too much about that.
Updated
56 min: Give Jamaica their due: they haven’t folded, or sat back, after that goal. McCleary goes at Johnson again, and it’s another Jamaican corner, their sixth. It comes to nothing.
55 min: Now Jamaica attack, and Barnes goes down the left, but the resulting corner is well caught by Guzan. It’s end to end stuff now.
54 min: Thompson is a bag of nerves! One thing we should bear in mind, though, is that Thompson, who plays for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, is not Jamaica’s first-choice keeper: Dwayne Miller, the usual No 1 was injured against El Salvador, and so Thompson came in as back-up.
51 min: Ooh, a big miss from Johannsson, and another let-off for Thompson: Johnson’s free-kick was nothing special, but Thompson pawed it straight into the path of Johannsson, following in, but the No 9 just couldn’t direct the header. It came quickly, but Johannsson will be disappointed.
50 min: Now Johannsson is tripped by Watson right on the edge of the box. Schafer doesn’t like the call, but this is a big opportunity for USA.
49 min: Well, that’s another goalkeeping howler: Thompson spilled a regulation shot from Johannsson, Dempsey dived in, Thompson couldn’t hold, and the loose ball fell to Bradley, as it generally does, to prod home from about six yards. Big goal, and it’s very much on.
Updated
GOAL! USA 1-2 Jamaica (Bradley 48)
The comeback is on!
46 min: USA start on the front foot, but Austin dispossesses Johannsson and it’s a Jamaica free-kick.
JR in Illinois writes:
Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if Beckerman had been sent off. He’s been brutal.
Well, he might have seen yellow for a clumsy foul on Austin inside the first five minutes. But actually, I think both teams are unchanged for this second 45.
Second half begins
They’re back out for the second half: USA were out a long time before the whistle. Evidently Klinsi gave them a rollicking at the changeover.
For US supporters who are currently fed up, fear not: my colleague Tom Gottlieb has sent through this recipe suggestion from the estimable Rachael Ray: paprika shrimp and farro, no less.
Says Gottlieb: “So easy to make, and the paprika gives it a jambalaya sort of feel.”
Great! And do we have it with ketchup, or French’s mustard?
Yeah, that was weird!
.@timmyhilleh US announcer John Strong on Fox Sports 1 had everyone's heart in their mouths stating Beckermann had picked up a 2nd yellow
— Richard Byrne (@BalkansBohemia) July 22, 2015
Alexi Lalas makes a prescient point, though: “The US are not losing because of Brad Guzan.”
Warren Barton is blunt: “USA are getting bullied.”
Bedoya and Beckerman coming in for some criticism: I’m sure we’ll see second-half changes.
Actually, it was just a long throw on that Mattocks goal, and the striker got ahead of Brooks, who wasn’t paying attention. Actually, Guzan didn’t cover himself in glory on that first goal, either: his starting position was all wrong, and he couldn’t recover.
I’m so keen to see those goals again on replay: really slack marking was to blame for the first one, although Mattocks did so well to find the corner, but that free-kick from Barnes … it just seemed much too easy. However, Guzan was probably a bit unlucky to be penalised for carrying it out of his area as he looked to launch a counter-attack: you almost never see that.
Half-time: USA 0-2 Jamaica
Wow. Well, who saw that coming?
45 min: Clever, cynical tactical foul from McCleary to stop Johnson. But that’s a yellow card, and a chance for USA from the dead ball. But Bradley’s ball in is poor, and Thompson catches with ease.
44 min: Great stop from Ryan Thompson, but that was a big chance for USA: Johansson found Dempsey, who got between two defenders and fired a powerful left-footer, low, from about 12 yards: it might have sneaked under the keeper, but Thompson did very well to block and smother.
43 min: Jamaica have looked dangerous down this right-hand side, and McCleary goes again, but Brooks come across to cover.
On the bench, Klinsmann looks shocked.
41 min: USA need half-time. They’re really struggling. McCleary goes down the right again, but that’s a good tackle from Beckerman, and USA come away with it.
38 min: That was a really odd free-kick: from the side angle, it looked like Barnes bent it into the top corner, but on replay, from behind the goal, he just placed it on net. Guzan’s positioning was all off, and he didn’t look like saving it at all. Much too easy.
Kyle Brown says it all:
Guzan may have just lost his job. :-(
38 min: Shambolic from Brad Guzan, I’m afraid. The keeper claimed the ball after that Jamaica corner, but was then penalised for holding on to it as he exited the area. So unusual, but it was a Jamaica free-kick right on the edge, and Barnes stepped up and just pinged it. But it wasn’t in the corner by any means: should Guzan have stopped it? Yes, in short. Two bad errors from the goalie. Come back Tim!
GOAL! USA 0-2 Jamaica (Barnes 36)
Giles Barnes! That’s a magnificent free-kick!
Updated
34 min: That was just very strange: John Strong on Fox commentary suggested Beckerman had been booked in the aftermath of the Jamaica goal, and then he was carded again … so where was the red? Well, Strong misspoke and then apologised: it appears Beckerman hadn’t picked up that initial yellow.
33 min: Crude lunge from Beckerman as Barnes looked to escape, and that’s a deserved yellow. USA are a shambles in defence at the moment!
Well, that’s set a cat among the pigeons! That was just a regulation dead ball in from the left side, and USA went to sleep: Mattocks got up above four USA defenders, and craned his neck to direct an excellent looping header past Guzan. The keeper was nowhere, but that was really poor marking: how did Mattocks get so free?
GOAL! USA 0-1 Jamaica (Mattocks 31)
USA down! From nowhere!
Updated
30 min: Now Thompson makes amends: that’s a very good save from Fabian Johnson’s right-footer from the left. Bradley’s corner is headed wide by Dempsey. USA on top here!
29 min: That was almost a hilarious goal from Aron Johannsson! Morgan played it back to Thompson, who took a poor first touch, and was suddenly in trouble as Johannsson closed him down in the six-yard box. Thompson tried to dribble clear, but Johannsson won it cleanly, and it squirted just wide of the post. So close! That was Rene Higuita against Cameroon all over again.
Updated
27 min: Jamaica have really retreated: Barnes and Mattocks are so isolated. But that’s a huge chance for Giles Barnes! McCleary worries Johnson down the left, and finds Barnes … but he slams it over! Just like Zardes, but that was a better chance, and he should have hit the target.
26 min: Jamaica are really under pressure here. Klinsi’s on his feet. Corner for USA. Schafer is cross about something or other. It’s all go! Bedoya’s ball in is claimed, just about, by Thompson.
25 min: Chance for Zardes, after Bradley tore through the middle, but he blasts it over. He leant back and got underneath it: a shame.
24 min: Bradley’s ball in this time, looking for Brooks, but Jamaica pummel clear. They can’t hold it though, and it’s back with Bedoya, who finds Johannsson … and Jamaica scramble it clear again! Dempsey’s was inches away from getting on the end of that. The pressure’s building.
22 min: That’s the best move of the match so far, and Jamaica were at sixes and sevens: Bedoya and Johnson combined very nicely down the left, but the Reggae Boyz did just about enough to hack clear. Corner to USA, but Austin directs it out of play. Another corner.
20 min: Jamaica have found their feet after a poor start. It’s pretty even so far.
Anyone got any emails/online manifestos/recipe suggestions?
19 min: Zardes has struggled to get involved so far, and he can’t link up with Dempsey. Jamaica clear. And now McAnuff turns Zardes to come away and win the free-kick. Well played.
17 min: USA look to break with Dempsey, but Jobi McAnuff steps in with an excellent tackle. Now Jamaica burst forward with McCleary, and that’s a corner, but it’s over everyone. The set pieces so far have been a mild horror show.
15 min: Can we talk about Jürgen Klinsmann’s fleece jacket? It’s punishingly unstylish. I think he’d look better in full USA uniform, to be honest, including boots, gum shield and jock strap.
Johannsson is fouled, but the ref waves play on, and Dempsey has a pop from distance, but it’s over the bar. USA looking positive in attack.
13 min: Bradley’s cross is headed away. Then Dempsey has a go from the opposite flank, but it’s claimed by Thompson.
12 min: Well, we picked out Mattocks as one to watch, but that was a chance missed: McCleary did ever so well to cut in from the right and breeze past Beckerman, and he fed Mattocks, but the striker’s touch was poor, and he took far too long, allowing USA to recover. Then Watson blams one from distance, but it’s wide.
10 min: Nice touch from Bradley, but Lawrence does well to nip in and steal it. Jamaica have started to play after an iffy opening few minutes.
“Every time I played against them, Jamaica were a very difficult opponent,” says Friedel on commentary.
7 min: Kemar Lawrence with the set piece, but it’s hit into the wall, and loops up, and it’s a foul on Guzan. Schafer’s look is one of irritation, disgust and contempt. A total waste.
6 min: Morgan looks for Mattocks over the top, and Brooks took an awkward touch, although I think that was the pitch more than anything. Now Austin is tripped by Beckerman right on the edge of the box. A clear trip, and a dangerous position for Jamaica.
4 min: Shot of Winfried Schafer on the bench, looking, with his long white hair and steel-rimmed spectacles, like the eccentric chief executive of a Silicon Valley behemoth. Bedoya does well down the left, but Ryan Thompson claims. USA, unusually, have started brightly.
Updated
2 min: But that’s a cheap corner to give away from Jamaica. Chance early for USA, but Austin heads away well. The ball is definitely rolling funny on this surface.
1 min: And we’re off! And immediately USA belt it into touch. Groan.
A bit more info on that Jamaican lineup: they go 4-4-2, with Barnes and Mattocks up front. Brad Friedel reckons they’ll try to defend deep and counter-attack. “Wes Morgan is going to be so important.”
Julie Stewart-Binks has some information on the field at the Georgia Dome. Basically, it’s crap, and Winfried Schafer is not happy.
OK, that’s the anthems done. Nicely. We’re minutes away.
The players are emerging from the tunnel. USA all in white, Jamaica in green jerseys with yellow shorts. It’s steamy in Atlanta.
My hot take: Jamaica look taller.
Updated
Here’s tonight’s heated debate: should Howard come back and get the goalkeeper’s jersey? Text me, email me, any way you want me! As long as you love me, it’s all right.
Six minutes to go! Although with the Gold Cup, the kick off time is merely a suggestion. I’d bet hundreds and thousands of dollars we’re late.
Alexi Lalas on Fox reckons USA will be OK if Guzan continues in goal, but Warren Barton talks of Guzan’s “big blunders” and remembers Howard’s performance against Belgium last year.
“Some of them saves was remarkable,” opines Barton. Yep! Them really was.
Fox are showing a little segment about goalkeeping, with advice from Brads Guzan and Friedel, Tony Meola, William Yarbrough, Nick Rimando et al. “People used to say you have to be a bit thick to be a goalkeeper,” grins Friedel. Never!
And on that very topic, Tim Howard announced today that he’s ready to return for the US team, after a break and some R&R. But is Jürgen Klinsmann ready for him?
Last week, Michael Bradley let slip his true feelings on the Gold Cup:
“I say this with total endearment: It’s a ridiculous tournament.”
Ha! I mean, he’s right: there’s lots to enjoy in this competition, but the scheduling, the facilities, the pitches, the travel … all ludicrous. Grass laid atop artificial turf, matches played in baking, 100F-plus temperatures, all in the middle of the MLS season. Still, if USA win tonight they’ll be in another final, and they’ll qualify automatically for the 2017 Confederations Cup.
Incidentally, Mexico take on Panama at 9pm ET in the very same stadium in Atlanta. USA the warm-up act, Mexico the main event. Joke!
Things We Like, No 755 in a never-ending series: Aron Johannsson and Clint Dempsey in attack. The pair have forged an effective partnership in Jozy Altidore’s absence, and Deuce has six Gold Cup goals already: he leads the top scorers in this tournament. But Johannsson’s been great, too. Here’s Jack Kerr on the Icelander born in Alabama:
Some British interest in that Jamaica lineup: McAnuff, Morgan, Mariappa, McCleary, Barnes – all familiar to fans of the Premier League and Championship, past and present. And in Darren Mattocks of the Vancouver Whitecaps, Jamaica have got a real speedster. America’s back line better beware.
Updated
US Soccer never publish the lineups of the opponent: it’s such bad form, and it annoys me. I’m like a hot kettle! Anyway, here’s Jeff Carlisle with the Jamaica lineup:
Jamaica lineup vs. #usmnt: Thompson; Lawrence, Hector, Morgan, Mariappa; McAnuff, Watson, Austin, McCleary; Mattocks, Barnes
— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) July 22, 2015
So two changes from the side that beat Cuba: Omar Gonzalez makes way for John Brooks, who comes back after suspension, and Brad Evans replaces Timmy Chandler at right-back.
Here’s the US lineup:
#USMNT Starting XI vs. Jamaica (4-2-3-1): Guzan; Evans, Alvarado, Brooks, Johnson; Bradley, Beckerman; Zardes, Dempsey, Bedoya; Johannsson
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) July 22, 2015
Hello and welcome
Like Michael Johnson, Donovan Bailey and Naim Suleymanoglu in 1996, USA and Jamaica are going for gold in Atlanta. The USMNT play the Reggae Boyz in the first Gold Cup semi-final: for USA, it’s the chance to make yet another final, and for Jamaica, it’s the chance to make history. The Jamaicans have never been to a Gold Cup final; the USA have been in the past five (and have won three of them). Jürgen Klinsmann’s men are hot favourites, Jamaica are the underdogs, but this is football – bloody hell! – and nothing’s guaranteed. Should be a cracker: kick off is 6pm ET, and you should come and join the fun.
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s why Concacaf is expecting a USA v Mexico final:
Though both teams have failed to impress, it seems that the inevitability of a USA-Mexico final is all but upon us, with both teams just one victory away from the final in Philadelphia.
But as the semi-finals get under way on Wednesday, both USA and Mexico should be wary of their opponents, two sides that have earned their way to this stage thanks to some dogged performances.
