In his second stint as U.S. men’s coach, Bruce Arena has team on the rise.
Bruce Arena is passing his second test as coach of the U.S. national team with flying colors.
If the U.S. wins this week, Arena will get a gold star for a perfect score on his midterm report card.
The U.S. will face Jamaica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final Wednesday night at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The U.S. could lift the trophy for the sixth time.
It would be a nice exclamation point for the first eight months of Arena’s second tenure as national team boss. He has not lost a competitive game since World Cup qualifying picked up in March. Under Arena, the Americans went from last place in the hexagonal to third place and are in good position to qualify for next summer’s FIFA World Cup.
“Four months ago, we were rebuilding our program — a program that was in desperate shape of being in position to qualify for a World Cup,” Arena, 65, said this week. “We have made great strides over the last four months. This is a great opportunity for us to continue to make progress.”
To do that, the U.S. must find a way to score against a team that has conceded two goals in five Gold Cup matches. The Reggae Boyz stunned favored Mexico in the semifinals.
Jamaica boasts an experienced roster full of players who are not strangers to playing deep into the Gold Cup. This is Jamaica’s second consecutive berth in the final.
But Arena said Jamaica looks different.
“They have a lot of discipline,” Arena said. “They’re very strong defensively, and they’re hard to play against. That is not typically what you see out of a Jamaica team.”
The potential of winning a trophy is a big deal, but U.S. fans might see forward Clint Dempsey reach another milestone in the process.
In Saturday’s semifinal victory over Costa Rica, Dempsey scored his 57th international goal to tie the U.S. record set by Landon Donovan. He could have the record all to himself.
Dempsey, 34, would love to set the record Wednesday mostly because it would mean the U.S. has a better chance of winning.
“It’s going to be a tough game,” Dempsey said. “We’re going to have to be at our best, but if we’re at our best I think we can get the job done.”