Jurgen Klinsmann praises “hungry” Clint Dempsey

Mexico won 1-0 on Sunday night in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals on Andres Guardado’s penalty kick in the final minute of extra time. After a 1-0 loss to the United States which they showed toughness, physicality and grit, they tied 2013 runner-ups Panama 1-1.

“Unfortunately, things were not handled right and I take full responsibility for my actions, but this wasn’t to do with lack of playing time”. “You don’t want to kind of miss that chance maybe getting more opportunities than you usually get in the global game”.

“It is our first priority to make sure the team is concentrating on the task at hand, which is advancing in the Gold Cup”.

Though Clint Dempsey had scored three of his team’s four goals in the first three games of the tournament, Klinsmann said he gave the 32-year-old striker “a couple of numbers he should have in the back of his mind and go for them” as the usa got ready to play Cuba on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.

“We went up against a very high-level team, and we knew that,” Cuba head coach Raul Gonzalez told the media assembled after the match.

The USA has had its tough moments as well and labored at times during first-round wins over Honduras and Haiti. Dempsey’s 47 goals in 117 games for the national team is also second to Donovan (57 in 157) among US players. There is no word yet on what Powell’s status will be for the match against Vancouver, something that the youngster’s mental state will likely play into more than anything if he is physically on location.

Ongoing work by USA and Cuban political leaders to restore diplomatic relations is vital for both nations said Gonzalez whose team one day might not have defectors.

“That is not a joke, believe me”, Schaefer said. No, it’s because we This is important. We could improve because of this.’. From the 2007 Gold Cup squad to the 2010 World Cup roster, Bradley swapped out 11 players. If Schäfer could not control Dempsey, then they are in serious trouble.

Jamaica claimed the top spot in Group B following a huge 1-0 win over El Salvador in their final group stage match to end the round with two wins and one draw scoring seven points.

The Gold Cup is a major worldwide tournament like no other, by virtue of the diverse spread of quality across the 12 participants.

So – who competes for Gold Cup glory? It’s therefore difficult to judge the true quality of what we are watching – although there can be little doubt that both the U.S. and Mexico have, in general, performed below their potential best.

There are lots of mid-20s players who haven’t gotten their shot yet, plus Under-20 World Cup stars and future Under-23 Olympic qualifying team players who are going to get into the team this cycle.

The 2015 Gold Cup is now in the semifinals stage and the United States and Jamaica booked the first two seats in the final four of this summer’s tournament.