Concacaf Nations League Final: United States 3-2 Mexico
In a packed house Mile High stadium, Denver Colorado – the Americans defeated their neighbor in a wild finish and win the first edition of the Concacaf Nations League tournament. Tied at 2-2 after the end of regular time, USMNT prevailed over EL Tri in the overtime as Pulisic gave the lead at 3-2 from the penalty spot and then Horvath saved Guardado’s pk at the last second of overtime, one of the all-time greatest saves in US Men’s National Team’s history.
Mexico could not put the game to bed
The Mexicans were up very early in this game thanks to Cordona who took care of a mistake from the Americans on the defensive end within just one minute into the game. Then, the Mexicans thought they were up 2-0 but the goal was waived off for offside after the VAR check. The Americans responded quickly and found the equalizer from the corner at the 27th minute from Reyna. The teenage player from Borussia Dortmund scored his 3rd goal in 7 appearances with the USMNT.
At 1-1, Mexico found the second goal at the 79th minute and El Tri thought this was enough to win the Nations League. Yet, a second corner provided again the equalizer with McKennie’s header. The Juventus youngster scored his 8th goal under 25 appearances for USMNT.
Pulisic with the dagger
The European league players made the difference in this game as Pulisic, who just recently won the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea, netted the victorious penalty in overtime to give the US a gritty win over Mexico and a well-deserved pierce of silverware.
Reactions from USMNT coach Berhalter:
“You think about a final, giving up a goal in the second minute of the game. And then the way we came back, got level at halftime, then go down again, then come back again late in the game.
And then overtime was just a complete, complete mess, to be honest. With everything that was going on in the game, the guys still stayed cool, still were able to focus.
You need your big players to step up. We’re a young side and we need to learn how to win.”
“It’s just a huge step for this group. I think it just gives us more belief that we can really move forward and we can play with the big teams.”
