The United States Men’s National Team looks to continue their sole dominance of the CONCACAF Nations League, with Thursday night’s semifinal opponents Jamaica the only thing standing between them and a shot at the third straight title.
Expectations are high for Gregg Berhalter’s squad as they resume Nations League play after a four-month hiatus. For Thursday’s semifinal in Arlington, Texas, they will face off against the Raggae Boyz of Jamaica, who they have historically dominated, but will be far from pushovers.
One could be forgiven for having high expectations for an overwhelmingly strong performance by the USMNT due to several factors. Yes, their quarterfinal round against Trinidad and Tobago was not without a hiccup, after their 3-0 first-leg win was followed by a 2-1 stinker of a loss in Port of Spain. It is also completely true that this collection of first-teamers has not taken the field together in any competition since that pair of games over four months ago.
However, history does have some bearing on current events, and the history of this particular competition is bathed in Red, White and Blue. The Americans’ win in the inaugural edition in 2021 was followed by a second title two years later, making them the only team to lift the trophy so far in this still-young competition.
The format of the current edition has been slightly tweaked to act as a qualification for the upcoming Copa América, putting Sunday’s final, also taking place in the AT&T Stadium, barely more than nine months past the last time that Berhalter’s men lifted the trophy.
The other major factor playing to the USMNT’s favor is quite simply the current club form of several of the team’s most important stars.
At the forefront is Christian Pulisic, who is arguably having the best season of his professional career at AC Milan. While the team is all but eliminated from the Serie A title race, Pulisic has emerged as one of their most important attacking players, with 13 goals and eight assists across all competitions, including four goals and one assist over his last four games.
Even though his Rossoneri teammate Yunus Musah has not experienced the same overwhelming success, the 21 year-old has been a regular contributor in his first season in Milan, with several strong performances as of late and a bright future ahead at the club.
Haji Wright has also been a revelation as of late for Coventry City in England’s EFL Championship, scoring 13 goals in league play and a pair more in the FA Cup, including a dramatic late winner to put them in the competition’s semifinal.
Wright has been a notoriously streaky player during his career, but is entering USMNT duty on a hot one, with four goals and one assist in his last four.
Sergiño Dest is also proving to be an indispensable piece of PSV Eindhoven’s dominant push towards the Eredivisie title, scoring twice and assisting five times in 21 league games from his predominantly left-back position.
The list goes on and on, with Weston McKennie, Mark McKenzie, Antonee Robinson, Johnny Cardoso, Malik Tillman and Ricardo Pepi all entering the camp in strong form at their respective competition levels, even if it is in somewhat limited playing time in the case of Pepi.
Adding the return of Tyler Adams to the mix after a long injury layoff will be a major leadership boost to the team, even if the oft-times team captain will likely be significantly limited as a precautionary measure.
Amidst all of these feel-good stories, one could almost be forgiven for overlooking Gio Reyna’s nearly complete lack of playing time at Nottingham forest, Folarin Balogun’s rather disappointing form so far in his first season at Monaco and the late scratch of Josh Sargent from the roster due to injury. Fortunately, the current depth and quality of the squad is more than enough to patch over those hopefully temporary issues.
The one major weakness, which will certainly be tested by Jamaica’s quality attack, is at the keeper position, although it is far from hopeless.
Usual USMNT starter Matt Turner has been largely relegated to Forest’s bench after an unimpressive first half of the season led the team to look elsewhere in the winter transfer window. Ethan Horvath’s fortunes have gone in the opposite direction, having one the starting role at Championship club Cardiff City in mid-February, and for the most part putting in competent, if not occasionally strong performances in his current eight-game run in the nets.
Inter Miami keeper Drake Callender is the third option on the roster, although there is little chance that he will push past either of the two European-based options, especially with a string of mixed performances in recent weeks.
In short, Berhalter’s attacking options are currently more than enough to paper over any cracks at the back of the defense, and it would be a surprise to see the Americans do anything short of fully dictating the flow of the game and keeping the vast majority of the play deep in Jamaica’s territory.
Nevertheless, the visitors are far from an easy opponent, and have grown their overall level of quality in recent years under head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson. In fact, the last meeting of these two teams in last summer’s Gold Cup group stage ended in a shocking 1-1 draw, albeit against a US team that was vastly different than the one that will line up on Thursday.
The team has a number of players based in the top two divisions of England, with recent English convert Michail Antonio being one of the more dangerous pieces.
However, Shamar Nicholson, who currently plays Ligue 1 team Clermont, might be the most dangerous threat, even if Swansea’s Jamal Lowe, Jamaica’s goalscorer in that 1-1 draw last summer, will be looking for a repeat.
Although it should be noted that arguably the most talented player on the team, Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey, was not included in the squad for the Nations League finals due to being suspended for a curfew infraction in the previous camp.
Nevertheless, Jamaica does have the speed, athleticism and quality to punish any defensive or goalkeeping lapses by the Americans should they get caught pushing too recklessly forward. The starting center back pairing for the US, which is also a bit less certain than the outside back pair of Dest and Robinson, will be heavily tested and could be the difference between a straightforward win, and a game that might induce a visit to the cardiologist on Friday morning.
The game at 6pm local time in Texas, 7pm East coast time, in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium. The winner will face the victor of the other semifinal between Mexico an Panama in Sunday evening’s final, while the loser will play the other loser in the third-place game earlier in the afternoon.
