Latest news with #penaltykicks
Al Arabiya
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Matt Freese shined in his shootout moment, and the Americans are moving onto the Gold Cup semifinals
After losing a second-half lead to Costa Rica, this young US side was forced into a shootout with the daunting task of facing goalkeeper Keylor Navas. Matt Freese studied for this–literally. The late-blooming national team rookie, who made a costly mistake in the previous match, actually conducted an in-depth research project in college at Harvard about penalty kicks. Freese spent the flight to Minneapolis reviewing his findings and examining Costa Rica's tendencies–time well spent that fueled his steely performance in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal victory on Sunday night. 'To be able to rely on that type of thing and deal with a lot of statistics and read the game and read their hips–things like that–is massive,' Freese said after making three saves in the six-round shootout won 4–3 by the Americans after a 2–2 tie in regulation. The Americans play Guatemala in the semifinals on Wednesday in St. Louis. If the US can rely on Freese like this moving forward, that too would be an enormous boost. The twenty-six-year-old native of Pennsylvania, who has displaced–for now–2022 World Cup and 2023 Gold Cup starter Matt Turner, knocked away shootout attempts by Juan Pablo Vargas, Francisco Calvo, and Andy Rojas. Calvo scored on Freese in the 12th minute on a penalty kick. Freese–a little-used backup for Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union before a trade to New York City FC in 2023 jump-started his career–has had little time with the national team for training. His path was only cleared this spring by injuries to Patrick Schulte and Zack Steffen. But new coach Mauricio Pochettino has been determined to push his young players into the deep end during this biennial championship for North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, with Freese at the forefront of the experiment. 'I've just got to be ready for whatever game I get, for whatever moment is there for me,' said Freese, who gave up one goal in three group stage matches. 'He's shown a lot of faith in me. That's something I'm really grateful for, and it's my job to repay him and help the team win.' The goal Freese gave up during the group stage was quite a gaffe–a misfired clearing attempt against Haiti that set up the tying goal in a game the US won 2–1. But Pochettino and his staff had no problem sending Freese back to the net for the knockout rounds. 'It's an opportunity to show you can bounce back, an opportunity to learn and quickly move on to the next,' Freese said. Turner played only three club matches in the recently ended season for Crystal Palace, all in the FA Cup and none since March 1. The critical position is wide open for Freese–or anyone–to seize it with the North American World Cup looming next summer. 'I think it's good for Matt, for the rest of the keepers to see that they can have the possibility and deal with the pressure,' Pochettino said. 'Because you never know what's going to happen in one year. Now is the moment to test or to give the possibility to show that they can deal with that stress and perform.' Pochettino didn't directly answer a question about whether Freese has passed Turner on the depth chart. But the native of Argentina, who began his playing career with the same club that Navas stars for and briefly managed him with Paris Saint-Germain, was clearly pleased by the way his keeper stepped up with one of the best in the world during the dramatic shootout. After each save, Freese told himself he wanted another one. After the third diving stop, he became especially demonstrative–nodding his head and sticking out his tongue toward his cheering teammates at midfield. 'He's done extremely well. He's worked extremely hard,' said Diego Luna, who scored his first international goal for the US in the first half. 'These are the type of moments that we live for.'
Washington Post
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Matt Freese shined in his shootout moment, and the Americans are moving onto the Gold Cup semifinals
MINNEAPOLIS — After losing a second-half lead to Costa Rica, this young U.S. side was forced into a shootout with the daunting task of facing goalkeeper Keylor Navas. Matt Freese studied for this. Literally. The late-blooming national team rookie, who made a costly mistake in the previous match , actually conducted an in-depth research project in college at Harvard about penalty kicks.
Associated Press
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Matt Freese shined in his shootout moment, and the Americans are moving onto the Gold Cup semifinals
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — After losing a second-half lead to Costa Rica, this young U.S. side was forced into a shootout with the daunting task of facing goalkeeper Keylor Navas. Matt Freese studied for this. Literally. The late-blooming national team rookie, who made a costly mistake in the previous match, actually conducted an in-depth research project in college at Harvard about penalty kicks. Freese spent the flight to Minneapolis reviewing his findings and examining Costa Rica's tendencies, time well spent that fueled his steely performance in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal victory on Sunday night. 'To be able to rely on that type of thing and deal with a lot of statistics and read the game and read their hips, things like that, is massive,' Freese said after making three saves in the six-round shootout won 4-3 by the Americans after a 2-2 tie in regulation. The Americans play Guatemala in the semifinals on Wednesday in St. Louis. If the U.S. can rely on Freese like this moving forward, that too would be an enormous boost. The 26-year-old native of Pennsylvania, who has displaced for now 2022 World Cup and 2023 Gold Cup starter Matt Turner, knocked away shootout attempts by Juan Pablo Vargas, Francisco Calvo and Andy Rojas. Calvo scored on Freese in the 12th minute on a penalty kick. Freese, a little-used backup for Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union before a trade to New York City FC in 2023 jump-started his career, has had little time with the national team for training. His path was only cleared this spring by injuries to Patrick Schulte and Zack Steffen. But new coach Mauricio Pochettino has been determined to push his young players into the deep end during this biennial championship for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, with Freese at the forefront of the experiment. 'I've just got to be ready for whatever game I get, for whatever moment is there for me,' said Freese, who gave up one goal in three group stage matches. 'He's shown a lot of faith in me. That's something I'm really grateful for, and it's my job to repay him and help the team win.' The goal Freese gave up during the group stage was quite a gaffe, a misfired clearing attempt against Haiti that set up the tying goal in a game the U.S. won 2-1. But Pochettino and his staff had no problem sending Freese back to the net for the knockout rounds. 'It's an opportunity to show you can bounce back, an opportunity to learn and quickly move on to the next,' Freese said. Turner played only three club matches in the recently ended season for Crystal Palace, all in the FA Cup and none since March 1. The critical position is wide open for Freese — or anyone — to seize it with the North American World Cup looming next summer. 'I think it's good for Matt, for the rest of the keepers, to see that they can have the possibility and deal with the pressure,' Pochettino said. 'Because you never know what's going to happen in one year. Now is the moment to test or to give the possibility to show that they can deal with that stress and perform.' Pochettino didn't directly answer a question about whether Freese has passed Turner on the depth chart. But the native of Argentina, who began his playing career with the same club that Navas stars for and briefly managed him with Paris Saint-Germain, was clearly pleased by the way his keeper stepped up with one of the best in the world during the dramatic shootout. After each save, Freese told himself he wanted another one. After the third diving stop, he became especially demonstrative — nodding his head and sticking out his tongue toward his cheering teammates at midfield. 'He's done extremely well. He's worked extremely hard,' said Diego Luna, who scored his first international goal for the U.S. in the first half. 'These are the type of moments that we live for.' ___ AP soccer:
Washington Post
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
US gets past Costa Rica in Gold Cup quarterfinals on penalty kicks
MINNEAPOLIS — Damion Downs scored in the sixth round of a shootout after three saves by Matt Freese, sending the U.S. to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 4-3 penalty-kicks win over Costa Rica after a a 2-2 tie on Sunday night. The U.S. advanced to a Wednesday matchup in St. Louis against Guatemala, which upset Canada on penalty kicks in the opener of the quarterfinal doubleheader.
Al Arabiya
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
US Gets Past Costa Rica in Gold Cup Quarterfinals on Penalty Kicks
Damion Downs scored in the sixth round of a shootout after three saves by Matt Freese, sending the US to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 3–2 penalty-kicks win over Costa Rica after a 2–2 tie on Sunday night. The US advanced to a Wednesday matchup in St. Louis against Guatemala, which upset Canada on penalty kicks in the opener of the quarterfinal doubleheader. Mexico plays Honduras in the other semifinal on Wednesday in Santa Clara, California. The championship is in Houston on July 6. The US has reached the semifinals in 17 of 18 Gold Cups, including 13 straight since a quarterfinal loss to Colombia on penalty kicks in 2000. Diego Luna and Max Arfsten scored in regulation for the US, which faced its highest-ranked opponent of the tournament in Costa Rica (54th) after breezing through the group stage with an 8–1 goal differential. Alonso Martinez scored the tying goal for the Ticos in the 71st minute with a left-footed shot after Carlos Mora split Luca de la Torre and Arfsten to take a shot on Freese and seize the rebound to set up Martinez. CONCACAF changed the rules for this edition of the biennial championship for North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, eliminating extra time except for the championship game. John Tolkin had the first chance to win the shootout for the US. Keylor Navas knocked down his try in the fifth round. Freese then denied Andy Rojas with a diving hand, climbing to his feet while nodding his head and sticking out his tongue toward his cheering teammates at midfield. That set up the winner by the 20-year-old Downs. Missing the tournament for the US are regulars Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Antonee Robinson, Folarin Balogun, and Sergiño Dest due to a variety of reasons from injuries to rest to Club World Cup commitments. The Ticos played without four key players. Forward Manfred Ugalde, who had three goals in the tournament, and midfielder Carlos Mora were suspended for yellow-card accumulation. Defender Ariel Lassiter (broken left hand) and forward Warren Madrigal (broken left leg) were sidelined by injuries. Three of Costa Rica's six goals during the group stage came by penalty kick, and Francisco Calvo added another one in the 12th minute after a foul by Arfsten. Calvo went low to zip the ball just out of reach of a diving Freese. Malik Tillman, who had three group stage goals, put a 37th-minute penalty kick off a post, and Navas knocked away Arfsten's attempt off the rebound. Luna picked him up with his first goal in international competition by rocketing a shot off the chest of defender Alexis Gamboa for the equalizer in the 43rd minute. Tillman made amends for his miss early in the second half by poking a pass ahead for Arfsten, who surged in from the left wing to send the ball into the opposite corner for the lead.
