Nations League Returns: USMNT vs Jamaica tonight
Pre-match thoughts ahead of tonight's Concacaf Nations League semifinal. The history of the trophy, the team in Texas, the lineup for tonight.
USMNT vs Jamaica
Momentarily, the third edition of the Concacaf Nations League Finals sets off in Arlington, Texas. Should the previous two editions be any indication we are likely, if nothing else, to be entertained.
The first iteration of this regional affair of course kicked off in June 2021. Our ‘post-COVID’ world was just re-opening, welcoming crowds and events and good old in-person chaos, and good old in-person chaos it delivered in spades. A sold out crowd in Denver. Clint Dempsey in camo-blazer and shades. Rogue fans wandering behind the broadcast booth, then catapulting into the stands. The chant. The projectiles. 18-year-old Gio getting hit with a bottle in the head.
The US won 3-2 in extra time with goals from Reyna, McKennie, and Pulisic (after which we got the famous shushing frame). Ethan Horvath, replacing an injured Zack Steffen in the 67th minute, saved the day when he halted Andrés Guardado’s pen.
In many ways, that match of unbridled pandemonium kicked off the present era. World Cup Qualifying, and all that followed through Qatar, launched forth from that trophy-lifting day. It was the first bit of brass for the anointed generation, the ones fans hope will take us further than we’ve trodden before.
Last June, 739 days after that trophy-lift in Denver, the gang set out for a repeat win in Vegas. We’d lived a lifetime in between— the Octagonal, the World Cup, the interim-manager pause that followed Qatar.
We discovered Gregg Berhalter’s return just minutes before the semi-final kicked off. And this time, it was US vs Mexico in pre-final clash. The chaos of it could make the first edition blush. A few skirmishes later, with goals from Pulisic and Pepi, the US progressed to the final, where they met Canada and cruised to a second trophy, with Chris Richards’ and Flo Balogun’s debut goals.
And now we go again. A third trophy in a different moment. This time, it’s neither the start of an unknown era nor the end of an interim pause. The players aren’t quite so young anymore. Berhalter’s had ample time now at the helm.
The expectation in Texas is the trophy, no excuses. They’ll need to beat Jamaica this evening, and then either Panama or Mexico on Sunday, to achieve that cause. But the broader and more important context to tonight and to this window is preparation for Copa America, wherein they (Gregg and players included) will need to prove a point.
A brief word on the roster
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