This particular Gold Cup roster came into camp with just an average of 16 caps. There were a lot of question marks entering the tournament as to whether this rather inexperienced USMNT squad was talented and capable enough to lift the Concacaf trophy in July.
Several USMNT mainstays missed the Gold Cup due to injury, the FIFA Club World Cup or personal reasons, but the players on the roster saw it as an opportunity to tune out the noise and write their own story.
“We've dealt with a lot of adversity, but we've done it with a lot of heart,” defender Chris Richards said. “I think that's been the big thing this summer.”
The summer didn’t start easily with two losses to UEFA teams, Türkiye and Switzerland, in international friendlies in early June. However, the USA quickly turned the page in the Gold Cup and didn’t look back. The Americans came out of Group D on top, winning all three group matches. Then they knocked out Costa Rica and Guatemala in the quarter and semifinals, respectively.
“We're all eyes on Houston, and we want to win a whole trophy,” Richards said.
The USA will face Mexico in the Gold Cup Final at NRG Stadium on July 6 (7 p.m. ET on FOX).
Fellow center back and veteran leader Tim Ream said that this opportunity wasn’t just happenstance. It was an intentional effort to develop chemistry on and off the field.
“What happens on the field doesn’t just magically appear,” Ream said. “It takes time, and it’s something that we’ve cultivated throughout these last four weeks. Without all the togetherness, without fighting for each other, without standing shoulder to shoulder, without having each other’s backs, we don’t get to this point to be able to fight for that.”
The knockout round proved to be the biggest catalyst in bringing the team together— a penalty shootout in the quarterfinal and a physical, competitive semifinal.
Now, the USMNT will face its biggest rival El Tri, for the eighth time in a Gold Cup Final. Its southern neighbor is favored over the Americans, and for the first time this tournament the U.S. enters a match as the underdog.
This isn’t anything new for this group. They came into the tournament feeling overlooked, and now hope to finish as champions.
“It's something as players, you always want to be able to do,” Ream said. “You want to be able to play for trophies, you want to win trophies. And so, now here we are.”
