USMNT to reach yet another Gold Cup final
CONCACAF Gold Cup 2021 'guests' Qatar find themselves one step away from an unlikely final in perhaps their only time in the competition, having just about held off the challenge of El Salvador at the quarter final stage from a position of total dominance. For USMNT, it took a late strike from Matthew Hoppe to seal their place in the last four, and the bulk of both the pressure and expectations will be on them to reach the weekend's showpiece match. Read our preview here:
Walking tall
Regardless of the outcome late on Wednesday evening, The Maroon will have had an excellent competition, which is important to remember in the context of allowing Félix Sánchez's Asian Cup holders further opportunities to play in matches against the best the northern half of the continent has to offer in preparation for November 2022's World Cup; this will also be supplemented by the Arab Cup a year prior, and perhaps more importantly from an on pitch perspective, further friendlies against a strong UEFA contingent. In the Q2 Stadium, they will doubtlessly look to Al-Duhail striker Almoez Ali to fire in the goals to complete a headline grabbing victory in Austin.
Hoppe on, baby
The 20 year old left-sided forward was one of very few whose reputations were enhanced after Schalke's disastrous 2020/2021 Bundesliga campaign ended in relegation, and on the international stage, he will need a bit more from his teammates in attacking areas to be reasonably certain of a win on Wednesday evening, set as it is against a back five in claret. Head coach Gregg Berhalter has rallied the troops from a relative low point in modern times for the men's side since taking over in 2018, months after the World Cup in Russia came and went without their participation. Things are rosier now with a much needed array of younger talents coming through the ranks.
Qat out of the bag
Like against the Reggae Boyz, the United States are not going to have it all their own way, even on home soil. Qatar have very little to lose by going hell for leather, although they will probably start off the match looking to suck their opponents in before hitting them on the counter. bet365 have odds of 4.33 for both teams to score, but with Berhalter reaching his first final in charge within 90 minutes.
