Young USMNT take on top-scoring Qatar in Gold Cup semifinal showdown
By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer
Seeing the United States men’s national team in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup is like seeing the sunrise in the morning. After 11 consecutive trips to the biennial regional championship, it’s just part of life’s normal rhythm.
But instead of another routine — if high-stakes — game against a familiar foe from their own small corner of the globe, a strange and intriguing test awaits the USMNT on Thursday night in Austin, Texas (7 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports App).
For the first time, the opponent standing between the Americans and a potential final date with chief rival Mexico in Las Vegas on Aug. 1 is 2022 FIFA World Cup host Qatar.
The tiny Middle Eastern nation (it’s about the size of Connecticut) is a guest team at this tournament, which isn’t as unusual as it sounds. CONCACAF squads, for example, have often accepted invitees to play in the Copa America, South America’s prestigious competition. In 2002, the U.S. beat Gold Cup guests South Korea in the semis before going on to hoist the trophy.
Like the South Koreans back then, Qatar, as the next World Cup host, automatically qualify for the event and therefore need to get in as many competitive practice games as possible beforehand. The Americans will be in the exact same situation next cycle with the U.S., plus Canada and Mexico, staging an expanded 48-nation World Cup in 2026.
Qatar and its quickly improving national squad may be unfamiliar to most American players and fans, but they're not to U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter. He visited the cash-flush peninsula in the Persian Gulf in late 2019 and planned to hold the annual January camp in the country a few months later before a last-minute switch.
He knew about Qatar’s attacking prowess that has been on full display at this Gold Cup.
"They’ve been scoring goals," Berhalter said on Wednesday during his pre-match press conference. "They’ve also been conceding goals."
Qatar’s Almoez Ali and Abdelaziz Hatem are the tournament’s active goal leaders, but the U.S. defense, led by young Atlanta United center back Miles Robinson, has been its stingiest, having been breached only once so far.
"It’s a tough role to play center back at this level," veteran Sebastian Lletget said of the 24-year-old Robinson, who came into this Gold Cup with just three caps. "We’ve really been able to rely on him."
Stylistically, Qatar is less physical and more technically gifted than most CONCACAF teams. There is one big similarity, however.
Just like Haiti, Martinique, Canada and Jamaica — the four teams Berhalter’s side beat to get to Thursday’s encounter — Qatar tend to pounce in transition moments rather than keep control of the ball.
The problem for the U.S. is that they do it faster, and with lethal precision.
"They’re deadly on the counterattack," Berhalter said of Qatar. "We know they have quality players."
This young and inexperienced U.S. roster has shown quality, too. Forward Matthew Hoppe, 20, capped a scrappy performance versus Jamaica with a late game-winner. Center back James Sands, 21, was excellent next to Robinson in place of injured vet Walker Zimmerman. Central midfielder Gianluca Busio, just 19, showed more steel against the Reggae Boyz than he had earlier in the competition.
"The resiliency and the relentlessness that they’ve played with is a great example to the whole entire player pool," Berhalter said of the newcomers.
Getting the kids experience alongside the MLS-based regulars before the start of World Cup qualifying in the fall was always the idea, but it has gone better than many expected considering their inexperience. Busio and Hoppe had never represented the USMNT before this month.
"There are plenty of guys who have played significant minutes and have done really well," said Paul Arriola, who captained the U.S. in the quarters. "[They’ve] shown why they deserve to be part of the national team going forward."
First, there’s another knockout game to play.
"We’re going to ask our guys to go out of their comfort zone and compete against an unfamiliar opponent," Berhalter said. "They’re definitely going to be in the next World Cup. We know that. And if we end up qualifying, there’s the potential to play them in the World Cup.
"It’s a great opportunity for this team."
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.
