Mexico beat Pochettino's USA to defend Gold Cup title

Yahoo

6 days ago

West Ham defender Edson Alvarez is the captain of the Mexico team and scored the winning goal [Getty Images]
Mexico fought back from conceding an early goal to beat Mauricio Pochettino's United States and defend their Gold Cup title in Houston, Texas.
Former Tottenham and Chelsea manager Pochettino saw his team gain a fourth-minute lead through Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards. He headed in from Sebastian Berhalter's free-kick, with the ball bouncing down off the underside of the crossbar and just crossing the line.
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But the US advantage only lasted 23 minutes as Fulham striker Raul Jimenez equalised with a first-time shot on the turn into the roof of the net from eight yards out, following Marcel Ruiz's intelligent reverse pass.
Jimenez celebrated the goal by sitting on the turf with a 'Diogo J 20' shirt in front of him as a tribute to his former Wolves team-mate Diogo Jota, who died in a car crash on Thursday aged 28.
Mexico dominated the second half and got the winner in the 77th minute with a diving header from Edson Alvarez, although it had originally being ruled out for offside before the video assistant referee showed the West Ham defender was onside.
The Gold Cup featured 16 nations, 15 from North and Central America as well as Saudi Arabia, who had been invited to compete. All but one of the matches have been held in the United States, with the other one staged in Vancouver, Canada.
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Pochettino took Tottenham to the Champions League final in 2019 and had been appointed boss of the US national team in September 2024, four months after being dismissed by Chelsea.
Raul Jimenez played in the same Wolves side as Diogo Jota in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons [Reuters]
What was the main talking point?
Although the final ended in defeat, this tournament has been a welcome return to form for the US after they had suffered four successive home defeats between March and June – against Panama, Canada, Turkey and a 4-0 thrashing by Switzerland.
Pochettino had guided the US to wins over Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, Costa Rica and Guatemala to take them to the final, but they could not take the final step.
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They looked on course to win the competition with their early goal, but Mexico recovered from a poor start to secure a deserved victory and regain the trophy they had won two years ago.
Which players stood out?
Mexico had almost 60% of possession and dominated the stats with 12-0 corners and 16-6 shots, with eight of those efforts on target, while the US only had three on target.
American goalkeeper Matt Freese made six saves to keep his side in the match, but the US could not hold on for extra time as Freese was beaten for a second time with Alvarez's header with 13 minutes remaining.
The standout stats
This was the 18th hosting of the Gold Cup and either the United States or Mexico has won every tournament, apart from in 2000 when Canada took the title.
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Mexico have now won it 10 times with the United States having seven successes.
What is next for these teams?
With next summer's World Cup being held in Canada, Mexico and the US, these countries do not need to qualify so will only be playing friendlies until the tournament.
The US have two home games in September, against South Korea in New Jersey on 6 September and then against Japan in Ohio four days later.
Mexico play the same two nations in their next two friendlies, Japan on 6 September and South Korea on 9 September.
Where next?