Mexico beats U.S. 2-1 to win 10th Gold Cup title
Houston-Mexico beat the United States 2-1 Sunday evening for its record title of the 10th title of the Cup of Concacaf, with Edson Álvarez marking a goal in the 77th minute after a video review reversed an offside call.
Chris Richards put the United States in the fourth minute, heading for a free kick from Sebastian Berhalter for the second time in the tournament, but Raúl Jiménez equaled the scoring in the 27th with his third goal of this Golden Cup.
Mexico received the free kick when Diego Luna defeated Alexis Vega on a side. Johan Vásquez crossed the restart through the mouth of the goal and Álvarez broke out in front of the defense, redirecting the 3 -meter ball just inside the distant post of Matt Freese. While the game was initially called offside, the objective was awarded by the Var, and Mexico defended its title of 2023 while improving at 6-2 in the final of the Gold Cup against the United States
Patrick AGYEMANG had a two -minute chance after the time to stop, but he did not establish good contact on his short -term shot which was blocked by goalkeeper Luis Malagón.
A closed window crowds of 70,925 at the NRG stadium was around 70% of the players from us and holly when they came out for pre-match warming up. Mexico dominated with 60% possession and had 12 corner kicks in the Americans.
It was the last competitive match for the United States and Mexico before co-organizing the World Cup next year with Canada.
The United States, which has seven gold cup titles but none since 2021, used a starting alignment with only a handful of players currently projected as well as the World Cup, lacking regulars due to holidays, injuries and the club World Cup.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino used their absence to assess players who could put pressure on jobs during friendly matches this fall and next spring, and Luna and Agyemang have emerged as contenders at the list of the World Cup.
Richards put the United States in front of when he directed the Berhalter free kick about 40 meters from the transverse bar. The ball has bounded down and just crossed the goal line.
Jiménez scored his 42nd international goal, third in Mexican history. He broke out in front of the defense and timed Marcel Ruiz’s pass, beating Freese about 10 meters on a shot that could have announcing defender Tim Ream.
Jiménez celebrated by entering a jersey from Mexico n ° 20 with “Diogo J” in honor of Diogo Jota, his former Wolverhampton teammate who died Thursday in a car accident in Spain. Jiménez ran in a corner, sat down with the jersey and imitated playing a video game.
