Five young Gold Cup standouts to watch in World Cup qualifying
By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer
Which members of the U.S. men’s national team roster raised their stock during the CONCACAF Gold Cup? A better question might be, "Which ones didn’t?"
Christian Pulisic and 17 other European club stars who helped the USMNT win June’s Nations League final, the first of two tournament wins over El Tri this summer, were rested for this latest regional championship. After a victory over a full-strength Mexico team with what amounted to a mostly third-string squad, it’s safe to say that every single one of the 24 Americans who contributed to the against-all-odds Gold Cup triumph augmented his standing in coach Gregg Berhalter’s eyes.
That goes for such players as forward Daryl Dike, who scored two goals against Martinique but didn’t do much beyond that, even though Berhalter started him in the team’s knockout-round wins over Jamaica and Qatar. (The 21-year-old Dike desperately needs a rest after playing 12 months straight in his first year as a professional.)
It goes for first-team regulars and beloved leaders Paul Arriola and Sebastian Lletget, both of whom will remain in the mix when qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off next month.
And it most certainly goes for the horde of youngsters who entered the competition with exactly zero senior international experience. Gianluca Busio, Matthew Hoppe, Donovan Pines, James Sands and Eryk Williamson all met or exceeded any reasonable expectations and made meaningful contributions to the victory.
"We were together for a month, and we just saw the team growing, we saw individuals growing and improving, we saw the team chemistry growing," Berhalter said after Sunday’s 1-0 win in Las Vegas. "We have complete confidence in every man on this roster."
The facts back up his claim. Berhalter started two players in the final — central midfielder Williamson and 19-year-old left back George Bello — who had barely featured to that point, and he was rewarded with the best performances of their careers.
Even Berhalter elevated his reputation, with the back-to-back trophies silencing (for now) the segment of the U.S. fan base that always seems to want the manager’s head on a stick the second something goes wrong.
Now, though, all eyes turn toward qualifying, which begins with early September matches against El Salvador, Canada and Honduras. And the big question is if players used the Gold Cup to put themselves in contention to start for the USMNT when Chelsea’s Pulisic, Juventus’ Weston McKennie, Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna and the rest of the cavalry return for the Octagonal?
Here are the five Gold Cup standouts, in order, most likely to be on the field next month.
D Miles Robinson, 24, Atlanta United
Robinson entered the Gold Cup with just four caps. He left as perhaps the tournament’s best overall performer — and a lock to line up alongside 2014 World Cup veteran John Brooks in the heart of the USMNT’s back line when qualifying begins.
The physical, right-footed center back scored the dramatic, tournament-winning goal, but it was his defending and distribution that really caught the eye. Robinson’s timing, awareness and one-on-one play were exceptional. His passing, suspect in camps past, was sound. Even after an injury to the more experienced Walker Zimmerman left Robinson partnering with Vines and Sands, players with even less experience than him, he barely put a foot wrong. In every way, Robinson was exceptional.
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Blue-chip Bayern Munich prospect Chris Richards might eventually challenge Robinson on the way to Qatar, but make no mistake: The spot next to Brooks is now clearly Robinson’s to lose.
G Matt Turner, 27, New England Revolution
Although Turner had just one cap coming in, Berhalter picked him ahead of both two-time World Cup veteran and former Premier Leaguer Brad Guzan and longtime USMNT understudy Sean Johnson.
Turner allowed just one goal in six games and was named the Gold Cup’s top keeper. While he’s still probably behind incumbents Zack Steffen and Nations League final hero Ethan Horvath on the coach’s depth chart, that could change quickly.
Steffen is projected to back up Brazilian starter Ederson at Manchester City again this season, while Horvath, who joined England’s Nottingham Forest last month, isn’t guaranteed the No. 1 job with the second-tier club. (Forest’s campaign begins Sunday.) If neither Steffen nor Horvath have played a minute through August, Berhalter could well stick with Turner, who will be getting regular reps with the MLS-leading Revs.
F Gyasi Zardes, 29, Columbus Crew
Zardes showed why Berhalter rates him so highly by coming off the bench in the quarters and semis to help the U.S. advance. It was his late goal against guest entry Qatar that sent the Americans to the finale, in which Zardes always figured to start.
While he didn’t score against El Tri, Zardes made the simple plays he needed to and pressed like his blonde mohawk was on fire when Mexico had the ball, helping tire El Tri's defenders out.
But mainly, Berhalter will seriously consider starting the vet in his first-choice 11 because Dike, Hoppe — who impressed mightily — and Josh Sargent still haven’t done quite enough to prove that they bring more than the fight, poise and, yes, finishing ability that Zardes provides against CONCACAF opposition.
M Kellyn Acosta, 26, Colorado Rapids
The only U.S. player to start both the Nations League and Gold Cup deciders, Acosta produced a man-of the-match performance Sunday, repeatedly breaking up Mexican attacks from his deep-lying central spot and setting up Robinson’s winning header with a pinpoint free kick.
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Acosta couldn’t have done more to show Berhalter that he deserves to keep his place with the varsity. Still, the main reason the rangy Texan got the nod in June was because Tyler Adams had just returned from injury. But while Adams is an automatic starter when healthy, he’s often not.
The new triple match windows in qualifying will also force coaches to rotate players in and out of their lineups to keep them fresh. Following his standout summer with almost two entirely different U.S. squads, Acosta will see plenty of minutes this fall.
D Sam Vines, 22, Colorado Rapids
One of just two left-footed left backs in the player pool along with Fulham’s Antonee Robinson, Vines acquitted himself well this summer, starting four of six contests and scoring the winner in the group stage opener against Haiti. (Only a fitness concern kept Vines from starting Sunday’s clincher.)
A steady defender, Vines is a safer option than the more attack-minded Robinson, especially given Sergino Dest’s propensity to get forward on the opposite flank.
Berhalter could always switch Dest to the left side, as he has in the past. But Vines proved at the Gold Cup that he can be relied upon in gritty, high-pressure games against physical CONCACAF foes, and his emergence also gives Berhalter the flexibility to keep Dest in his natural spot on the right — the one he mans every week for Barca.
One of the most prominent soccer journalists in North America, Doug McIntyre has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams in more than a dozen countries, including multiple FIFA World Cups. Before joining FOX Sports, the New York City native was a staff writer for Yahoo Sports and ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
