Morris pounces late, scores winning goal
The win didn’t come easily. But, then, it shouldn’t have.
It came in a fitting fashion for a United States team that has been battling to right itself for the past seven months.
The United States had to wait until the 88th minute of the Gold Cup final at Levi’s Stadium for the go-ahead goal — scored by Stanford alum Jordan Morris — to beat Jamaica 2-1.
“If you had asked me in November is this where we’d be with the program, I would probably say, ‘I don’t think so,’ ” said Bruce Arena, who is undefeated in his return as head coach, at 9-0-5. “For the players who work really hard to get our national team better, it’s a lot of credit to them.”
Arena took the helm in late November, stepping into a fire hose of pressure, with a team
whose morale was shot.
“The program was in desperate shape,” Arena said.
The Americans have pulled themselves from the bottom of the qualifying table to third place. And now they have won a trophy — the Gold Cup — as the best team in the CONCACAF Region.
What does it mean? If the United States wins again in 2019, the team gets an automatic berth into the 2021 Confederations Cup. If another team dethrones the Americans in 2019, there would be a one-game playoff between the two for the berth in the prestigious pre-World Cup tournament.
But it’s more than that. This is a trophy that the American team thinks should be theirs, but that it has won only once in the past decade.
This is one more step in a resurrection process that has been remarkable to watch.
“I know they are comfortable again, confident again,” said former forward Landon Donovan, who broadcast the tournament for Fox Sports. “People know their roles, there’s no ambiguity around who is supposed to be doing what. It’s simplification.”
And it has come thanks to Arena, who has — once again — proved to be the savior of the U.S. team. Sometime, in probably about 13 months, another coach will take the helm. But until then, bow down to what Arena has accomplished in a very short time.
“He was the logical choice, probably the only choice,” Donovan said. “Just because of, psychologically, the place the team was in.”
And now, as it heads into the final four games of qualifying for next year’s World Cup, Arena has the team riding a high. Full of belief.
“He’s gotten everything he could possibly want out of this tournament,” said Donovan, citing the chance for Arena to see young players in group play, mix in the veterans, and take the team through a month-long process.
“It’s so much different than playing in a friendly or a qualifier,” Donovan said: “It’s really valuable to have that experience, that will help when they hopefully get to Russia.”
The U.S. team caught a break early when, in the 19th minute, Jozy Altidore took a shot that was saved by Jamaica’s starting goalkeeper, Andre Blake. But when Kellyn Acosta came in for the rebound, he collided with Blake. Blake’s right hand was seriously injured and he was subbed out for Dwayne Miller. Blake, the 2016 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year with Philadelphia, had three shutouts in the tournament. He had been the key reason Jamaica had advanced to the final.
In the 45th minute, Altidore took a 28-yard free kick that went over Miller’s outstretched hand and into the upper left corner of the net.
Jamaica came back quickly, scoring early in the second half on a corner kick that Je-Vaughn Watson put in goal, on poor marking by Morris.
For the rest of the half, the Americans continued to find chances, but it wasn’t until the 88th minute, when Gyasi Zardes sent a cross in to Clint Dempsey in front of the goal. Dempsey was turned the wrong way — otherwise he would have had a goal that would have made him the U.S. men’s career scoring leader. Instead, Morris pounced and blasted the ball into the back of the net.
Minutes later, the whistle blew and the Americans had won. Morris, 22, has won an NCAA title with Stanford, an MLS Cup with Seattle and a Gold Cup with the United States, all in the past 19 months.
During the trophy ceremony, Arena spoke to Morris.
“I told him that made up for the goal you gave away,” Arena said. “These are important moments of a player.”
There were some glitches, though not of the American team’s making. Big chunks of turf — stop me if you’ve heard this before — came up out of the field at Levi’s, so noticeable that the television commentators mentioned the problem.
Another low point: The Mexican fans, who thought their team would be in the final, insisted on shouting their nasty slur during goal kicks. The homophobic chant has been banned and Mexico has been subject to sanctions. But even without their team involved, the chant continued.
Still, overall, it was a perfect night for the Americans.
“It’s been a really good experience,” Arena said. “To get to know each other and move the program forward.
“But we still have a long way to go.”