MNT Sets Sights on Gold Cup Semifinal Foe Jamaica

U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Jamaica
Gold Cup - Semifinal
Georgia Dome - Atlanta, Georgia
July 22, 2015

U.S. MNT MEETS JAMAICA IN GOLD CUP SEMIFINAL: The U.S. Men’s National Team will faceoff with Jamaica in the semifinals of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup on Wednesday, July 22 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 and UniMas.

The U.S. has reached the semifinal in 12 of the 13 previous Gold Cup tournaments. The team does so this year after defeating Cuba 6-0 in the quarterfinal. The team is 3-0-1 in this tournament after winning Group A with a 2-0-1 record. Jamaica reaches its third Gold Cup semifinal after a 1-0 shutout of Haiti in the other quarterfinal game in Baltimore.  Jamaica is 3-0-1 in this tournament and also was a group-winner, taking Group B on victories against Canada and El Salvador and a 2-2 draw with Costa Rica.

The MNT is 8-2-1 all-time in Gold Cup semifinal matches and has won its last five dating back to 2005.

The USA is 13-1-8 all-time against Jamaica. They have met three times in the Gold Cup, in which the USA holds a perfect 3-0-0 record. The teams last met in a 2013 World Cup qualifier, with the U.S. collecting a 2-0 triumph on goals from Graham Zusi and Jozy Altidore.

The MNT has never played a match in the Georgia Dome. The United States will play in Georgia for only the third time in team history, and the first since the side defeated China 1-0 in a friendly at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium on Oct. 10, 1977. The U.S. also defeated Canada 1-0 at the same venue on Oct. 27, 1968.

U.S. ROSTER NOTES:

• The MNT is 20-6-4 in knockout matches all-time in the Gold Cup.
• The USA has won its group in 12 of the 13 Gold Cups, and following the win against Cuba is 8-0-1 all-time in quarterfinal matches.
• The U.S. is now 52-7-6 all-time in Gold Cup matches and has reached the quarterfinal in each of the last seven events, going a perfect 7-0-0 in those games.
• Clint Dempsey has scored six goals in this tournament and is the current leader in the race for the Golden Boot. He notched a hat trick in the Gold Cup quarterfinal win against Cuba, and in so doing pushed push his career total to 11 Gold Cup, which ranks second in MNT history behind only Landon Donovan (18). In the last five games Dempsey has scored seven goals and increased his career total to 47 international goals, which ranks second on the USA’s all-time list, behind only Donovan again (57).
• Michael Bradley has played every minute of the USA’s 12 matches so far in 2015. In addition to Bradley, Gyasi Zardes has appeared in all 12 games this year:
• The U.S. MNT set attendance record in three games in July: #USAvGUA in Tennessee was the most-attended soccer match state history, #USAvHON was the most-attended international match at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, and #USAvHAI was the most-attended MNT Gold Cup match at Gillette Stadium. A sell-out crowd was also on hand in Kansas City for #USAvPAN.
• Ten MNT players on the current roster made their Gold Cup debuts in this tournament: Brad Guzan, Greg Garza, Timmy Chandler, Ventura Alvarado, John Brooks, Aron Johannsson, Fabian Johnson, DeAndre Yedlin, Gyasi Zardes and Graham Zusi.
• After the group stage, three roster changes were made. Greg Garza, Alfredo Morales and Jozy Altidore were replaced with DaMarcus Beasley, Joe Corona and Alan Gordon. Corona came on at the start of the second half in the match against Cuba.
• Beasley joins the group as the MNT’s most experienced player of the 23, having earned 121 caps for the United States. Beasley is the only American to play in four World Cups and last appeared for the USA and last appeared for the USA in the team’s 2-1 loss to Colombia on Nov. 14, 2014 in London, England. Beasley now returns for his sixth Gold Cup (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013), having already been a part of four Gold Cup title winning teams, including as captain of the 2013 title winning team.
• Alan Gordon was a part of the team that won the Gold Cup in 2013, the LA Galaxy striker makes his 2015 debut for the National Team. Joe Corona played a big part in the MNT’s 2013 Gold Cup title run, scoring twice in the tournament.
• Chris Wondolowski (5), Kyle Beckerman, Bradley, and Mix Diskerud have all scored goals in previous Gold Cups. All five of Wondolowski’s goals came in the 2013 Gold Cup, where he tied for the tournament’s Golden Boot.
• Sixteen players on this roster were a part of the 2014 FIFA World Cup squad, marking the highest return rate of players between the two rosters in years that the Gold Cup has followed the FIFA World Cup (1991, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2013).
• Seven players were a part of the USA team that won the Gold Cup in 2013: Beasley, Kyle Beckerman, Alejandro Bedoya, Diskerud, Omar Gonzalez, Nick Rimando and Wondolowski.
• The USA has reached the Gold Cup Final in five straight tournaments and six out of the last seven. The team finished in third place in 2003 after losing to a Kaka-led Brazil.
• Dempsey (18), Bradley (14) and Beckerman (13) have all played in more than 10 Gold Cup games. Wondolowski (10) and Bedoya (9) have also seen their share of Gold Cup action.
• The USA has won the Gold Cup five times (1991, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013) and finished as the runner-up four times (1992, 1998, 2009, 2011). The MNT has finished outside of the top four only once (2000).
• Nine different players from this roster have scored for the USA in 2015: Jozy Altidore, Bradley, John Brooks, Timmy Chandler, Dempsey, Diskerud, Aron Johannsson, Wondolowski and Gyasi Zardes.
• Michael Bradley is the captain for the MNT for the USA’s run in the Gold Cup. Bradley has started as the team’s captain in eight straight matches.
• Tim Ream has earned honors as the Bolton Wanderers Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons.
• Against Netherlands on June 5, Brad Guzan made his first appearance since he played against Colombia on Nov. 14, 2014. It was his first start of 2015. Also picking up wins against Germany, Guatemala and Honduras, Haiti and Cuba, Guzan is an unbeaten 6-0-1 in 2015.
• Fabian Johnson helped lift Borussia Mönchengladbach to a third-place finish in the Bundesliga that earned the club a spot in the 2016 UEFA Champions League group stage. The German side went 10-0-2 with Johnson in the starting lineup this season.
• Johannsson recorded four goals in his final three matches as AZ Alkmaar snatched the third spot in the Dutch Eredivisie and a place in the 2016 UEFA Europa League.
• Alfredo Morales played a key role in FC Ingolstadt securing first place in the second division in Germany and subsequent promotion to the Bundesliga.
• Zusi was both part of the team that represented the U.S. in the World Cup last summer and this year’s Gold Cup roster. He made his first appearance of 2015 in the match against Guatemala on July 3 in Nashville.
• William Yarbrough, 26, was born and raised in Mexico to two American parents. He has marshaled the backline for Club Leon to the 2013 Apertura and 2014 Clausura titles.
• Ventura Alvarado, who is now cap-tied to the U.S. after starting in the match against Honduras on July 7, has appeared in seven straight matches since making his debut in a U.S. uniform on March 25 against Denmark. Alvarado is a regular starter for the Club America team that captured the CONCACAF Champions League title and a trip to the FIFA Club World Cup. He has started four of the last five games for the U.S. MNT, in which the team is 4-0-0.
• Seven leagues from six countries are represented on the roster: Canada, England, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands and the United States.
• William Yarbrough, 26, was born and raised in Mexico to two American parents. He has marshaled the backline for Club Leon to the 2013 Apertura and 2014 Clausura titles.
• Ventura Alvarado, who is now cap-tied to the U.S. after starting in the match against Honduras on July 7, has appeared in seven straight matches since making his debut in a U.S. uniform on March 25 against Denmark. Alvarado is a regular starter for the Club America team that captured the CONCACAF Champions League title and a trip to the FIFA Club World Cup. He has started four of the last five games for the U.S. MNT, in which the team is 4-0-0.
• Seven leagues from six countries are represented on the roster: Canada, England, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands and the United States.
• Dempsey leads the team in points with 10 in 2015 on five goals.
• Through two matches, U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has utilized 19 of the 23 players on the U.S. roster.

USA vs. Jamaica:

• The U.S. MNT is 13-1-8 all-time against Jamaica, and 3-0-0 against the Reggae Boyz in the Gold Cup.
• The two sides have twice met in the knockout phase of the Gold Cup, with the MNT defeating Jamaica 3-1 in 2005 and 2-0 in 2011. Both matches were in the quarterfinal stage of the tournament.
• Jamaica’s 1-0 quarterfinal win against Haiti on Saturday night was the nation’s first knockout victory in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Prior to the 2000 tournament, teams went directly into the semifinal from the group stage.
• The MNT is 4-1-0 against Jamaica under Jurgen Klinsmann.
• Six U.S. players appeared in the last meeting between the two sides, a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win on Oct. 11, 2013 in Kansas City, Kan.: DaMarcus Beasley, Alejandro Bedoya, Mix Diskerud, Brad Evans, Aron Johannsson and Graham Zusi.
• Beasley and Clint Dempsey have each scored twice against Jamaica. Beasley tallied twice in the team’s 3-1 Gold Cup quarterfinal win on July 16, 2005. Dempsey scored in the side’s 2-0 Gold Cup quarterfinal win on June 19, 2011, in Foxborough, Mass. and a 2-1 World Cup qualifying defeat on Sept. 7, 2012 in Kingston, Jamaica.
• Evans and Zusi have also scored single strikes against Jamaica. Evans bagged the game-winner in second-half stoppage time of the 2-1 win in World Cup qualifying on June 7, 2013 in Kingston. Zusi also tallied a game-winner, netting the opener in the 2-0 win in front of his home Sporting KC fans the final World Cup qualifier of the Semifinal Round on Oct. 11, 2013 in Kansas City, Kan.
• Beasley lines up with Reggae Boyz forward Giles Barnes at the Houston Dynamo.
• Like the MNT with Klinsmann, the Jamaican Men’s National Team is also coached by a German, Winfried Schäfer. Shäfer took over the Reggae Boyz in July 2013, having previously coached Thailand and Cameroon, leading the latter to the 2002 African Cup of Nations title, the 2002 FIFA World Cup and a runner-up finish at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. 

Last time out:

The USA cruised to a 6-0 victory against Cuba in the quarterfinal round in front of a crowd of 39,000 fans in Baltimore.

• Dempsey’s hat trick was the fourth in MNT Gold Cup history: Brian McBride - 1/27/02 QF v. SLV; Landon Donovan (4) - 7/19/03 QF v. Cuba; Chris Wondolowski - 7/9/13 v. Belize
• Omar Gonzalez’s goal was the first of his international career.
• Gyasi Zardes scored his second goal of 2015 and his first in a Gold Cup.
• Aron Johannsson’s goal was his first in a Gold Cup and his second in 2015 with his first coming against Denmark on March 25 in Arhus.
• Brad Guzan earned his 12th career shutout and his second in this tournament.
• The U.S. is now 2-1-1 all-time in Baltimore and 2-0-0 at M&T Bank Stadium.
• The MNT is 8-0-1 in quarterfinal matches and 20-6-4 in knockout matches all-time in the Gold Cup. The lone quarterfinal blemish came in 2000, when the side drew 2-2 with Colombia before falling 3-1 on penalty kicks. 

IN FOCUS: JAMAICA
Jamaican Football Federation
Founded: 1910
FIFA Affiliation: 1962
Head Coach: Winfried Schäfer
FIFA World Ranking: 76
Best World Cup Finish: Group Stage, 1998
Best Gold Cup Finish: Third place (Tie): 1993
Leading Cap-Winner: Warren Barrett (127)
Leading Goalscorer: Luton Shelton (35)

Jamaica Roster By Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union), Dwayne Miller (Syrianska), Ryan Thompson (Pittsburgh Riverhounds)
DEFENDERS (6): Michael Hector (Reading), Lance Laing (FC Edmonton), Kemar Lawrence (New York Red Bulls), Adrian Mariappa (Crystal Palace), Wes Morgan (Leicester City), Alvas Powell (Portland Timbers)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Rodolph Austin (Unattached), Simon Dawkins (Derby County), Joel Grant (Yeovil Town), Christopher Humphrey (Preston North End), Joel McAnuff (Leyton Orien), Garath McCleary (Reading), Je-Vaughn Watson (FC Dallas)
FORWARDS (5): Giles Barnes (Houston Dynamo), Andre Clennon (Arnett Gardens), Darren Mattocks (Vancouver Whitecaps), Allan Ottey (Montego Bay United), Michael Seaton (Orebro)

JAMAICA NOTES:

• Jamaica has appeared in two semifinal matches in 1993 and 1998. They have yet to advance to a final, losing to Mexico in both games. (6-1 in 1993 and 3-0 in 1998).
• The Reggae Boyz have posted shutouts in seven of their last nine Gold Cup matches.
• Two players from the Jamaican roster, Darren Mattocks and Je-Vaughn Watson missed the quarterfinal game due to card suspensions. Mattocks, who led Jamaica with three goals at the 2014 Caribbean Cup, is now eligible to play again after serving his game suspension, as is Watson.
• Jamaica completed its second-straight undefeated group stage
• Jamaica has committed the second most fouls in the tournament (63), which is just behind Panama (67).

Last time on the field against Jamaica:  
October 11, 2013 – Sporting Park – Kansas City, Kansas. – 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifying

USA                2          Graham Zusi, Jozy Altidore
JAM                0         

USA: 1-Tim Howard (capt.); 6-Brad Evans, 20-Geoff Cameron, 5-Matt Besler, 7-DaMarcus Beasley (2-Edgar Castillo, 66); 11-Alejandro Bedoya, 8-Mix Diskerud, 13-Jermaine Jones, 10-Landon Donovan (19-Graham Zusi, 46); 9-Aron Johannsson (16-Sacha Kljestan, 72), 17-Jozy Altidore
Substitutions Not Used: 3-Michael Orozco, 12-Brad Guzan, 14-Terrence Boyd, 23-Kyle Beckerman
Head coach: Jurgen Klinsmann

JAM: 1-DuWayne Kerr; 12-Demar Phillips, 19-Adrian Mariappa, 7-Westley Morgan, 3-Lloyd Doyley; 11-Darren Mattocks , 17-Rodolph Austin (capt.), 15-Je-Vaughn Watson (14-Theo Robinson, 73), 22-Deshorn Brown; 10-Joel McAnuff, 9-Ryan Johnson (21-Jermain Anderson, 85)
Substitutions Not Used: 2- Daniel Gordon, 4-Marvin Ellitott, 5-Alvas Powell, 6-Romario Campbell, 8-Jermaine Johnson, 13-Richard McCallum, 16-Jermaine Taylor, 18-Shaun Cummings, 20-Kemar Lawrence, 23-Gariece McPherson
Head coach: Winfried Schaefer