Winner of the CONCACAF Gold Cup

On July 6th, the winner of the Soccer Gold Cup final was released, a tough battle between the U.S and Mexico’s men’s national soccer team. Though the winning team had to go through an unexpected deficit and the video review, Mexico was soon rewarded with its second consecutive Gold Cup trophy. It was their 10th cup in record, and in front of over 70,000 fans inside the NRG Stadium.

The U.S, who is expected to be on the next Men’s World Cup roster, which is a list of people who are selected to represent a country in the tournament, put up quite a fight, starting with an early lead and a chance at a second goal. Their first goal was scored with a free-kick by Sebastian Berhalter, and supported by Chris Richards. However, it was made quite clear that Mexico’s quality was better. The team quickly grew into the game, and soon the U.S was getting hit by waves of offense. During the 27th minute, Marcel Ruiz kicked the ball towards the front of the box, allowing Raúl Jiménez to turn and successfully score a goal against the team.

Mexico was seen to have dominated the field for the next 15 minutes of the match, even though the U.S often had the best chances of scoring another goal. At one point, the ball was headed in the path of Alex Freeman, who beat Luis Malagon to the ball and did a header, but the ball bounced off Malagon and went the other direction away from Mexico’s box. Mexico kept a good hold on the ball and repeatedly pushed for a goal, but at one point, they were called out for a penalty when Jorge Sánchez slipped and touched the ball with his hand while trying to stabilize himself. Lucky for him, the penalty was deemed to be unintentional.

For a while, any chances for Mexico seemed to be gone until the last 15 minutes of the game. Diego Luna was fouled by the referee, giving Mexico a dangerous-looking free kick. The ball was served by Alex Vaga to Johan Vásquez, who flicked the ball to Edson Álvarez, and that led Álvarez to score the second goal for Mexico, putting his team in the lead. At first, the goal was thought to be offside, but after the video was reviewed it was confirmed, setting off cheers in the team and the crowds.

The U.S had made quite an effort, but after the final whistle blew, it was confirmed that Mexico had won the Gold Cup once again, leaving the U.S players standing with their hands on their hips and the Mexico players celebrating in a circle.

Good work