ARLINGTON, Texas - In terms of tournament play, there was very little at stake for the U.S. men's national team on Sunday night against Haiti. They were through to the knockouts regardless of result. Barring some extraordinary results in both games across Group D, they were through as group winners, too.
But, as with everything this summer, this game was about more than the tournament.
When looking at it through that lens, Mauricio Pochettino will surely be happy. His U.S. team got another win, topping Haiti, 2-1, to make it three from three in this tournament, marking the seventh time overall that the USMNT were a perfect 3-0 in a Gold Cup group stage. That also marked the 17th time in 18 Gold Cups that the U.S. claimed the group.
Some of his regulars stepped up, namely Malik Tillman and Patrick Agyemang, the two goalscorers in the first and second half, respectively. His rotation pieces got into the mix, too, which will make Pochettino believe that he has a few more clubs in his bag heading into the business end of this Gold Cup.
Agyemang sealed the win in the 78th minute on a pass from John Tolkin, edging past the goalkeeper to score.
“Obviously me and John, we talked about that pass" he said on FOX after the game. "He played that ball perfectly. And for me, once I saw the keeper come out, I said ‘Compose yourself, take your time.’ I got around the goalkeeper and once I got there I was like, ‘Finish.’ I was happy it went in.”
It was far from perfect, however. The goalkeeper position came into focus once again thanks to a calamitous mistake from Matt Freese, whose weak clearance led to Haiti's equalizer in the the 19th minute. Once again, that positional debate rises to the forefront,. Freese, who started his third straight match ahead of the incumbent Matt Turner, has largely been handed the reins in this tournament but, after passing the ball straight to Don Deedson Louicius and then conceding, does that change at all?
The U.S. will have time to figure it out. The U.S. will play Costa Rica next Sunday in Minneapolis in the quarterfinals. Over the next week, Pochettino will have much to mull over, and he'll have plenty to take away from this final group stage game.
“We know what we got ourselves into," Agyemang said. "The Gold Cup is a tough tournament and I think with our squad, we know our quality. As long as we put the effort and the heart into it, we let our play show and we’ll get the result.”
GOAL rates USMNT's players from AT&T Stadium.
