BALTIMORE – In a CONCACAF Gold Cup that’s been anything but predictable, Saturday’s quarterfinal encounter between the United States and Cuba went exactly as planned.
The U.S. rode a hat trick from Seattle Sounders forward Clint Dempsey—the first of his international career—and goals from a trio of other contributors to a 6-0 rout over the Cubans, booking their spot in the tournament’s semifinals. They’ll face Jamaica on Wednesday in Atlanta.
The Cubans were massive underdogs from the start. Already one of the weaker sides in the competition, Los Leones del Caribe were dealt a further blow earlier last week when a handful of their players defected, most notably starting forward Ariel Martinez. Accounts of Martinez’ defection are gut-wrenching; the 29-year-old had tears in his eyes as he said goodbye to his coaches and teammates before “running off into the darkness.”
It sounds like the first half of a movie, almost, one where the scrappy underdogs more often than not come out on top. Saturday’s match-up, however, was no movie; in real life, things tend to stick to a more traditional script.
“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. “They were tough to deal with, they were just rolling over us. We knew we had to be careful, that we had to prepare carefully for this match, that goals early on could make things difficult for us. When they score in the fourth minute—from there, that’s where it all came undone for us, and it didn’t end up being a very competitive match.”
That’s a bit of an understatement. Dempsey’s fourth-minute goal—a clinically-finished header from just inside the penalty spot—was just the beginning. Borussia Mönchengladbach defender Timmy Chandler connected with Gyasi Zardes in the fifteenth minute for the USMNT’s second of the match, while Michael Bradley and Aron Johannson combined for the U.S.’s third a quarter of an hour later. By the time the U.S. had notched their fourth—a point-blank effort from LA Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez—the match had long been over.
On the other side of the halftime whistle, the rout continued; Dempsey was brought down in the area by Cuban defender Angel Horta in the 63rd minute, and stepped up to take the ensuing penalty kick, knocking it right down the middle for his second goal of the match. He’d complete his hat trick in the 77th with a sliding effort, knocking it past Cuban goalkeeper Diosvelis Guerra to cap of the U.S.’ afternoon.
After the final whistle, Dempsey strolled up to the official and asked him for the match ball. A night to remember for sure.
“I didn’t know that was his first [international] hat trick,” U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann—a former world-renowned striker himself—said with a wry smile. “It took him a long time.”
“For strikers, especially, a game like this is a huge opportunity,” he continued. “You don’t want to miss that chance, maybe to get more goals than you usually get in an international game. And that’s what I told him—’don’t waste any chances.’ And I think this is one good claim for our tournament this far, is that we don’t need many chances. Once we are in the box, we are very clinical. I think Clint is the best example, no doubt about it.”
The trio of goals pulls the 32-year-old Dempsey within ten goals of Landon Donovan’s all-time U.S. record of 57. With another pair of Gold Cup games likely on the horizon and a handful of friendlies and qualifiers to follow, it’s starting to feel likely that he’ll achieve that goal.
Things remain a bit more uncertain for the Cubans. After Saturday’s match, in a relatively empty conference room underneath M&T Bank Stadium, their head coach seemed to have finally reached his breaking point. It was a minor miracle that his side had even reached the knockout round of the competition, yet most in attendance seemed, understandably, most interested in the defections and what Gonzalez made of the the U.S. and Cuba’s ongoing easing of diplomatic tensions. He wasn’t having any of it.
“Every day I get asked these questions,” Gonzalez said. “I’m a happy man, I’m a soccer man. How long are we going to talk about this? Over and over again, you guys keep asking me the same question.
“Don’t get mad, please, but you’re just going to get the same answer.”
