Gold Cup Final: How the U.S. Men's National Team reminds me of Austin FC
On Sunday night, the U.S. lost because the offense couldn't get going and the defense had a couple of lapses at inopportune times. Perhaps that sounds painfully familiar.
It's not surprising that the U.S. and Mexico got to the Gold Cup final on Sunday night, and a win for either team wasn't going to be surprising, given that the U.S was 16th in FIFA World Cup rankings before the tournament started, with Mexico just one rung behind them.
The 2-1 Mexico win in Houston came about thanks to El Tri answering Chris Richard's early set piece goal — an impressive header that ricocheted off the crossbar to land just over the goal line — with a Raúl Jiménez goal later in the half and then a late Edson Alvarez set piece header that might have been ruled offside in pre-VAR times.
But it also came about because of Mexico's dominance on the ball, with the U.S. giving away the ball too much, not being able to consistently get the ball into the final third, combined with the momentary defensive lapses that offset otherwise solid goal-preventing play.
In other words, the U.S. on Sunday was reminiscent of the worst of 2025 edition Austin FC, but in red, white, and blue instead of verde and black.
The 60%-40% possession advantage Mexico enjoyed seemed greater, and so digging around the numbers a bit in morning-after mode, I found a more telling indicator of Mexico's dominance on Sunday: The eight players with the most touches were wearing black and gold, starting with defender Johan Vásquez with 91 touches. You have to get down to Chris Richards, with 61, before you find an American name on the list.
Diego Luna, who elevated himself to World Cup roster status with three goals and electric performances throughout the tournament, only got 37 touches and was stymied in ways he hadn't been in previous games.
Of course, it's not all about touches — Raúl only had 29, but those included him getting past Richards and Tim Ream inside the U.S. box to score the equalizer. But that is an indicator of how momentum shifted until El Tri finally scored the inevitable-feeling match winner.
In the final, the U.S. didn't have anyone to match Raúl. Patrick Agyemang, who finished the tournament with two goals, had just one shot in the final. He did help in a chaotic first-half stoppage time sequence, starting with an awkward Alex Freeman attempt, getting a pass in to Luna, who overhit his attempt — and that was one of the best opportunities of the night.
Agyemang couldn't score in this most important of tournament matches — but his teammates couldn't do so from open play either.
Sebastian Berhalter, with the free kick assist on the lone U.S. goal, continued what's been an amazing year for him, but while the newly-minted All-Star played well this Gold Cup, it's still unlikely that we'll see him on the World Cup roster next year as the high-profile players who stayed away from this year's tournament — certainly a topic for pundits to break down in all the post-Gold Cup assessments — come back into the fold.
After the match, Alexi Lalas, wearing an oversized cowboy hat on the Fox broadcast, tried to put a positive spin on the tournament, claiming that Mauricio Pochettino and the players who did show up forged an identity for the team that those stayaway players will have to adapt to once they return.
I'm not quite sure that when Christian Pulisic and the rest of the prodigal sons, when they do return, will indeed adjust, and given the uneven play the U.S. had during the tournament — including a match against Saudi Arabia at Q2 Stadium that Roger Bennett described in his Raven newsletter as "Spirit Airlines levels of performance" — identity might be doing a lot of work.
As with Austin FC in moments this season, you can see the flashes and the vision and the What Could Be of it all, and by virtue of co-hosting next year, the U.S. doesn't have to sweat qualification, and can just focus in their preparations on whatever that identity is ultimately going to be.
Sunday's loss could be a pivot point for the U.S. as it looks toward what might be its most-watched tournament ever, just like Austin's recent loss to the Sounders could be a pivot point to whatever kind of playoff run they might be able to mount (assuming they make it).
But with both teams, questions persist as to whether the pieces all fit, what the team's defining characteristics are, and how they'll perform the next time they take the field.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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It's not surprising that the U.S. and Mexico got to the Gold Cup final on Sunday night, and a win for either team wasn't going to be surprising, given that the U.S was 16th in FIFA World Cup rankings before the tournament started, with Mexico just one rung behind them.
The 2-1 Mexico win in Houston came about thanks to El Tri answering Chris Richard's early set piece goal — an impressive header that ricocheted off the crossbar to land just over the goal line — with a Raúl Jiménez goal later in the half and then a late Edson Alvarez set piece header that might have been ruled offside in pre-VAR times.
But it also came about because of Mexico's dominance on the ball, with the U.S. giving away the ball too much, not being able to consistently get the ball into the final third, combined with the momentary defensive lapses that offset otherwise solid goal-preventing play.
In other words, the U.S. on Sunday was reminiscent of the worst of 2025 edition Austin FC, but in red, white, and blue instead of verde and black.
The 60%-40% possession advantage Mexico enjoyed seemed greater, and so digging around the numbers a bit in morning-after mode, I found a more telling indicator of Mexico's dominance on Sunday: The eight players with the most touches were wearing black and gold, starting with defender Johan Vásquez with 91 touches. You have to get down to Chris Richards, with 61, before you find an American name on the list.
Diego Luna, who elevated himself to World Cup roster status with three goals and electric performances throughout the tournament, only got 37 touches and was stymied in ways he hadn't been in previous games.
Of course, it's not all about touches — Raúl only had 29, but those included him getting past Richards and Tim Ream inside the U.S. box to score the equalizer. But that is an indicator of how momentum shifted until El Tri finally scored the inevitable-feeling match winner.
In the final, the U.S. didn't have anyone to match Raúl. Patrick Agyemang, who finished the tournament with two goals, had just one shot in the final. He did help in a chaotic first-half stoppage time sequence, starting with an awkward Alex Freeman attempt, getting a pass in to Luna, who overhit his attempt — and that was one of the best opportunities of the night.
Agyemang couldn't score in this most important of tournament matches — but his teammates couldn't do so from open play either.
Sebastian Berhalter, with the free kick assist on the lone U.S. goal, continued what's been an amazing year for him, but while the newly-minted All-Star played well this Gold Cup, it's still unlikely that we'll see him on the World Cup roster next year as the high-profile players who stayed away from this year's tournament — certainly a topic for pundits to break down in all the post-Gold Cup assessments — come back into the fold.
After the match, Alexi Lalas, wearing an oversized cowboy hat on the Fox broadcast, tried to put a positive spin on the tournament, claiming that Mauricio Pochettino and the players who did show up forged an identity for the team that those stayaway players will have to adapt to once they return.
I'm not quite sure that when Christian Pulisic and the rest of the prodigal sons, when they do return, will indeed adjust, and given the uneven play the U.S. had during the tournament — including a match against Saudi Arabia at Q2 Stadium that Roger Bennett described in his Raven newsletter as "Spirit Airlines levels of performance" — identity might be doing a lot of work.
As with Austin FC in moments this season, you can see the flashes and the vision and the What Could Be of it all, and by virtue of co-hosting next year, the U.S. doesn't have to sweat qualification, and can just focus in their preparations on whatever that identity is ultimately going to be.
Sunday's loss could be a pivot point for the U.S. as it looks toward what might be its most-watched tournament ever, just like Austin's recent loss to the Sounders could be a pivot point to whatever kind of playoff run they might be able to mount (assuming they make it).
But with both teams, questions persist as to whether the pieces all fit, what the team's defining characteristics are, and how they'll perform the next time they take the field.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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