July 9, 2023 (Cincinnati, OH) – The second half of the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal matches were held at TQL Stadium Sunday.
Guatemala vs Jamaica
- Date: July 9, 2023
- Competition: CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarterfinal
- Venue: TQL Stadium
- Kickoff: 5:06 p.m. ET
- Box Score: Guatemala 0, Jamaica 1
Starting XI
Guatemala (4-2-3-1): 1 Hagen; 2 Ardon, 3 Samayoa, 4 Pinto, 7 Herrera; 15 Sequen, 17 Castellanos; 6 Mejia, 5 Altan, 18 Mendez-Laing; 9 Rubin (Head Coach – Luis Fernando Tena)
Jamaica (4-4-2): 1 Blake; 4 Bell, 6 Bernard, 17 Lowe, 21 Brown; 7 Bailey, 3 Lambert, 15 Latibeaudiere, 10 Reid; 18 Antonio, 12 Gray (Head Coach – Heimir Hallgrimsson)
STATS: (GUA/JAM)
- Shots: 11/18
- Shots on Goal: 6/3
- xG: 0.57/1.50
- Saves: 2/6
- Corner Kicks: 1/6
- Fouls: 16/15
- Offside: 1/2
- Possession (%): 56.5/43.5
Scoring Summary
51′ Amari’i Bell (Assist: Demarai Gray) – Guatemala 0, Jamaica 1
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 46′ – IN: Daniel Johnson OUT: Kevon Lambert (JAM)
- 64′ – IN: Jorge Aparicio OUT: Marlon Sequen (GUA)
- 64′ – IN: Dexter Lembikisa OUT: Javian Brown (JAM)
- 71′ – IN: Alejandro Galindo OUT: Pedro Altan (GUA)
- 78′ – IN: Shamar Nicholson OUT: Michail Antonio (JAM)
- 82′ – IN: Darwin Lom, Antonio Lopez OUT: Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Carlos Mejia (GUA)
- 86′ – IN: Cory Burke OUT: Leon Bailey (JAM)
MISCONDUCT
- 31′ Yellow Card – Di’Shon Bernard (JAM)
- 45′+3′ Yellow Card – Kevon Lambert (JAM)
- 76′ Yellow Card – Jose Ardon (GUA)
- 90’+3′ Yellow Card – Cory Burke (JAM)
MOTM: Demarai Gray (JAM)
I’m willing to bet that the first name people know from the Jamaican national team is either Leon Bailey or in the case that you’re an MLS sicko, Andre Blake. The two had phenomenal matches, Blake recording 6 saves and keeping a clean sheet, while Bailey was pivotal to Jamaica’s attack and their creativity in the final third. Even then, Gray’s performance still shined the brightest, as Everton’s 27-year-old forward helped assist the long goal in Jamaica’s 1-0 win over Guatemala. Gray created 4 chances with 100% accuracy on long balls on just 48 touches. Defensively he went a perfect 3 for 3 on tackles. The goal Gray assisted Bell on, Bell had a 0.48 xG, the highest of the match by a player on either team.
USA vs Canada
- Date: July 9, 2023
- Competition: CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarterfinal
- Venue: TQL Stadium
- Kickoff: 8:06 p.m. ET
- Box Score: USA 2(3), Canada 2(2)
Starting XI
USA (4-3-3): 1 Turner; 15 Jones, 20 Neal, 12 Robinson, 5 Reynolds; 14 Mihailovic, 8 Sands, 6 Busio; 17 Zendejas, 9 Ferreira, 22 Gressel (Head Coach – B.J. Callaghan)
Canada (3-5-2): 1 St. Clair; 4 Miller, 5 Vitoria, 15 McGraw; 11 Millar, 21 Osorio, 14 Bombito, 20 Ahmed, 22 Laryea; 9 Cavallini, 10 Hoilett (Head Coach – John Herdman)
STATS: (USA/CAN)
- Shots: 21/5
- Shots on Goal: 8/2
- xG 1.73/1.08
- Saves: 0/7
- Corner Kicks: 13/3
- Fouls: 15/18
- Offside: 2/1
- Possession (%): 67.3/32.7
Scoring Summary
88′ Brandon Vazquez (Assist: DeJuan Jones) – USA 1, Canada 0
90’+3′ Steven Vitoria (Penalty) – USA 1, Canada 1
109′ Jacob Shaffelburg – USA 1, Canada 2
114′ Scott Kennedy (Own goal) – USA 2, Canada 2
Penalty Shootout
- Steven Vitoria (Canada) – Saved. Canada 0, USA 0
- Brandon Vazquez (USA) – Missed. Canada 0, USA 0
- Liam Fraser (Canada) – Saved. Canada 0, USA 0
- Cade Cowell (USA) – Scored. Canada 0, USA 1
- Kamal Miller (Canada) – Scored. Canada 1, USA 1
- Gianluca Busio (USA) – Scored. Canada 1, USA, 2
- Jacen Russell-Rowe (Canada) – Scored. Canada 2, USA 2
- Jesus Ferreira (USA) – Scored. Canada 2, USA 3
- Charles-Andreas Brym (Canada) – Missed. Canada 2, USA 3
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 60′ – IN: Liam Fraser OUT: Moise Bombito (CAN)
- 63′ – IN: Cade Cowell OUT: Alex Zendejas (USA)
- 72′ – IN: Jacen Russell-Rowe, David Wotherspoon OUT: Lucas Cavallini, Ali Ahmed (CAN)
- 73′ – IN: Brandon Vazquez, Matt Miazga OUT: Djordje Mihailovic, Jalen Neal (USA)
- 86′ – IN: Jacob Shaffelburg, Charles-Andreas Brym OUT: Junior Hoilett, Liam Miller (CAN)
- 91′ – IN: Scott Kennedy OUT: Zac McGraw (CAN)
- 91′ – IN: Jordan Morris, Aaron Long OUT: Julian Gressel, Miles Robinson (USA)
- 113′ – IN: Cristian Roldan OUT: Bryan Reynolds (USA)
MISCONDUCT
- 42′ Yellow Card – Lucas Cavallini (CAN)
- 56′ Yellow Card – Zac McGraw (CAN)
- 57′ Yellow Card – Kamal Miller (CAN)
- 62′ Yellow Card – Jonathan Osorio (CAN)
- 97′ Yellow Card – Cade Cowell (USA)
- 120’+1′ Yellow Card – Matt Miazga (USA)
MOTM: Matt Turner (USA)
Look, as a writer that also covers FC Cincinnati, it was very tempting to put Brandon Vazquez in here as the man of the match. He came into the match alongside fellow Cincinnati teammate Matt Miazga and the chances started to come.
Matt Turner’s performance during the 120 minutes of regulation and extra time was fine. Surprisingly, he didn’t record a save, conceding two goals on a 1.08 xG. FotMob has his rating at a 6.3, which does make sense based on those stats – that goal by Shaffelburg wasn’t even listed on the top 9 xG chances from both teams on CONCACAF’s post-match report.
Nonetheless, Turner’s heroics in the PK shootout singlehandedly and deservedly give him the honors. Turner becomes the first USMNT goalkeeper in 21 years to record multiple penalty saves in a shootout. He set the tone by saving the first two attempts from Canada, even after Brandon Vazquez’s miss.
Of course, his celebration with “RIP Malia” written on his shirt was memorable. After the match, Turner spoke on the significance of the message.
“As professional athletes, we have a platform but for me, I think I lost touch with her (Malia) a little bit after I met her. She got to be an honorary captain at a Revs game, and I lost touch with the family afterwards. Obviously, I had my own stuff going on, and a few days ago it came to my attention that she passed away a month ago. It was super emotional for me and I just didn’t really know how to honor her. I decided tonight that I was gonna write her name down on my shirt and hope for a big moment that I could honor her and her family, and luckily that moment came.”
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