This is Noel Alberto signing off. I hope you enjoyed our coverage of this game between the United States and Cuba. Follow here for live coverage of Jamaica vs Haiti. I hope you all have a great night.
As expected, the "real" United States showed up today and put on a throttling of Cuba here in Baltimore. They face the winner of Jamaica and Haiti which is coming up in about an hour. They'll see the winner of that game at 6PM at the Georgia Dome.
FULL TIME! United States 6-0 Cuba. The largest ever Gold Cup victory for the United States as Cuba go down without a fight. A Clint Dempsey hat-trick led the way as he is named the CONCACAF Man Of The Match.
Less than a minute to go and the crowd is on it's feet.
Two minutes of second half stoppage time.
90': Corner headed away by the United States.
88': Napoles gets the ground cross and deflects it off a United States player. Corner.
86': A short corner played by Yedlin to Bradley. The American captain sends a good one in but a couple of shots are blocked.
85': Another Olimpico attempt by Bradley just misses. Corner from the right side this time. Don't think he'll be doing it again.
84': Bradley not too far there from another Olimpico. Second corner.
84': Corner to the United States.
Crowd coming alive a bit now as the fans are getting "The Wave" going.
80': Foul by Johannsson in the box. Ball is chipped in but no goal.
78': GOAL! Dempsey caps off a magnificent performance with a hat-trick. A poor touch by a Cuban defender gifts the ball back to Bradley. He makes a run and plays it across to a slipping Dempsey who still knocks it home. 6-0 United States
76': Yedlin plays the short corner to Bradley who sends in the cross. Gonzalez gets a head to it but sends it over the bar.
Cuba Sub: Felix Guerra on for Alberto Gomez
75': Yedlin continuing to put on a show as defenders are struggling to keep up with his pace and skill. Corner to the United States.
71': Cuba's free kick works well but Reyes was offside by a country mile.
71': Yedlin did well there to get around two defenders but they recover as Cuba gets possession once again.
70': Daniel Luis off for Yasmani Lopez for Cuba.
69': Great look for the United States as Yedlin gets down the wing and sends in a ground cross but no one was there to get a touch.
The five-goal lead is the largest margin ever for the United States in the Gold Cup. They defeated Cuba in the quarterfinals 5-0 in 1993 and defeated Belize 6-1 in 2013.
67': Fabian Johnson off for DeAndre Yedlin.
Dempsey now has 46 goals in his career. That was his 10th in the Gold Cup which is second-most in Gold Cup history.
64': GOAL! Dempsey puts the home the spot kick down the middle cooly. His fifth goal of the tournament and second double of the tournament. 5-0 United States
63': PENALTY! Foul on Horta who took down Johannsson in the box. Horta gets booked.
63': Great chances for the United States to go up 5-0 there. Johannsson and Dempsey could not knock it home.
59': First booking of the game goes to Napoles of Cuba. He went in hard on Joe Corona.
58': Zardes lays the ball off to Bradley. The captain takes one touch and gives it a go but is saved off the leg of Guerra.
Cuba Sub: Armando Coroneaux on for Liban Diaron Perez.
57': Napoles' strike goes over.
Zardes has been impressive today. His pace, skill and work rate are what stand out so far.
55': The United States had a throw-in in their attacking half but rush it and give the ball away.
53': Corner to the United States but Guerra gathers.
Timothy Chandler was taken out because of soreness in the knee. Precautionary move.
51': Cheeky backheel from Evans to get it out of the danger area.
49': Bradley takes the free kick and goes over the bar.
48': Foul just outside the 18, dangerous free kick territory for the United States.
USA Subs: Brad Evans for Timothy Chandler and Joe Corona in for Kyle Beckerman.
Second half underway.
Gonzalez's goal was his first ever for the USMNT. Zardes' goal was his second ever in 12 caps for the United States. His first was the equalizer against the Netherlands in the team's 4-3 win at Amsterdam Arena.
Four different goalscorers for the United States in the half: Dempsey, Zardes, Johannsson, and Gonzalez.
It's been an absolutely devastating display by the United States. They've struck four times in the first half and that's matches their total from the group stages already.
Halftime: United States 4-0 Cuba
45'+2': Cuba had one last shot to find the back of the net but Guzan gathers the free kick.
Two minutes of stoppage time until the half ends.
45': GOAL! Aron Johannsson heads the ball back down off the Bradley cross and it's finished off by Omar Gonzalezz! 4-0 to the United States
45': Corner to the United States.
44': Free kick goes over everyone's head and out of play. Poor cross in.
43': Alvarado takes down Reyes. Free kick territory for Cuba.
43': Audacious chip attempt from Zardes who saw the keeper off line. Goes wide and long. Tough angle for the young American to try thay one.
41': Cuba gets its first clear-cut chance but the header by Reyes goes well over the bar.
41': First half closing in a few minutes. Dominating stuff from the United States so far.
37': Diz Pe tries to find Reyes but sends it out of play. Throw in to USA.
34': The United States go on the break again via Johannsson. He goes down in the box but the ref is having none of it.
32': Official hydration break here. Temperatures are soaring here in Baltimore.
32': GOAL! Aron Johannsson chips the keeper who came out! Delightful stuff from the Iceman! Assissted by Michael Bradley.
30': Great spell from the United States as it looked like they had the chance to go up 3-0, but Zardes' shot ends up getting blocked. Cuba went on the counter but amounted to nothing.
29': Bedoya called offside. Was close to making it 3-0.
29': Corrales manages to muster up something from Cuba but his shot goes wide. Guzan yet to be troubled.
26': Bedoya showing a little flair to try and get by the defenders but fails and gives it away.
25': Cuban player down on the field. It's Daniel Luis but he's back up.
22': United States on the attack again but give the ball away. They win it back and reset the offense from the back.
18': Napoles finds Reyes inside the 18, but Reyes' first touch let him down. Goal kick to the United States.
17': Great over the top ball which finds Zardes as he flys down the wing. The Galaxy man cuts inside and tries to find Dempsey but the top scorer of the tournament could not put it away.
14': GOAL! Off the indirect free kick. Fabian Johnson finds Gyasi Zardes for his first goal of the tournament! 2-0 United States
14': Foul on Hordes on Bradley.
13': Bradley to Johannsson who plays it back to the captain but his first touch is poor and could not knock it home.
9': Great ball in from Beckerman who found Bedoya. Ball was sent in but Bradley could not get there to knock home a second.
9': Michael Bradley pressing as he forces a turnover but it was just knocked away by Beckerman.
8': Throw in to Cuba and they play the ball back all the way to their defense.
7': Ever since the opening minute, the Stars and Stripes have been dominating possession. Cuba has not gotten a sniff of the ball much after their early chance.
6': Throw in to the United States.
This is Dempsey's fourth goal of the tournament. He moves as solo top goalscroer passing Oribe Peralta.
4': GOAL! Nice spell of possession from the United States and Dempsey finds the back of the net on the header. Assisted by Timothy Chandler.
2': Foul on Diz Pe on Dempsey.
1': Guzan gathers as Gomez's ball had a bit too much, making it easy for him to get.
1': We're underway!
Not a full house here at M&T Bank Stadium but a very partisan crowd.
Teams are out on the pitch and we're almost underway.
National anthems underway.
About 15 minutes left until kickoff for this Gold Cup encounter!
Update: Cuba have 18 players available. Just enough to field a full eleven and a full bench.
There are five players from Cuba that are absent. A number of Cuban players defected throughout the tournament but cannot say if these players were the ones. Absent players: Dario Suarez, Kailer Garcia, Arael Arguellez, Aricheel Hernandez, and Ariel Martinez.
Reminder, the winner of this match goes on to face the winner of second part of this doubleheader, Jamaica vs Haiti. Read here for a preview of the match.
Only John Anthony Brooks of the United States is suspended for today's encounter.
Match Referees: Henry Bejarano (Costa Rica); Assistant Referees: Warner Castro and Leonel Neal (Costa Rica); 4th Official: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador); Match Commissioner: Lyndon Cooper (St. Lucia)
Cuba Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Guerra, Ruiz, Horta, Diz Pe, Napoles; Clavelo (C), Gomez; Perez, Cordero, Saez; Reyes
USA Starting XI (4-4-2 Diamond): Guzan; Chandler, Gonzalez, Alvarado, Johnson; Zardes, Beckerman, Bradley(C), Bedoya; Dempsey, Johannsson
Update: Cuba has 19 players availible for the quarterfinals according to MLSsoccer.com
Read here for a preview of the game.
This is a chance for the United States to stamp their authority in this Gold Cup by having a strong showing against Cuba. They've had their fair share of struggles in the tournament. However, nothing's going to be easy for the Stars and Stripes as Cuba have nothing to lose and will come out attacking.
In their match against Guatemala, Cuba was down to 14 players to players defecting throughout the tournament and other players having difficulty getting into the United States. Cuba has kept their roster fairly a mystery even before the tournament so it'll be very interesting to know what they'll have coming into the quarterfinals.
In the final game against Guatemala, Cuba shocked them and the world with a late winner by Maikel Reyes gave them three vital points for a 1-0 victory which was enough to see them advance as the second best third-placed team finishing behind Panama on goal differential.
The second game for the Cubans was against Trinidad and Tobago. Although it was not a beatdown, it was still a loss for Cuba as they fell 2-0 as Guatemala moved into third with a 0-0 stalemate with Mexico. It was going to be an all-or-nothing affair with Guatemala for a potential spot in the quarterfinals as one of the two top third-placed teams.
It was a horrid start for Cuba to start off the tournament. They opened up against one of the favorites Mexico. An Oribe Peralta hat-trick led the way for El Tri as Carlos Vela, Andres Guardado, and Giovani Dos Santos all found the back of the net as well in a 6-0 beatdown of Cuba.
Cuba headed into this tournament labelled as bottomfeeders of Group C. In a group with Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guatemala, many thought it would be a surprise if the Cubans garnered even a point in the group. However, they were out to prove them wrong.
Their final group game was against Panama. Once again, the United States looked very average, and it was Panama that struck first through Blas Perez. Michael Bradley scored the equalizer not too long before the hour mark as the game finished 1-1 and left the United States atop Group A with seven points.
The next two games was where the United States looked average, playing down to the level of their opponents. In their second game against Haiti, the game started with Altidore at striker but it wasn't until Gyasi Zardes came in when the United States found a creative and quick presence as his assist set up Clint Dempsey's third goal of the Gold Cup campaign. That goal would be the winner as the United States had three more points and guaranteed themselves to top the group.
The United States opened up the Gold Cup as favorites for the tournament but were placed in the Group of Death to kickoff things. They opened up the tournament against Honduras. A Clint Dempsey double led the way for the Stars and Stripes but a Carlos Discua strike just five minutes after Dempsey's double made it a nervy final 20 minutes for the United States. The five-man counterattacking back line for Honduras was a strategy that worked as their pace overwhelmed a United States midfield which was lacking it. However, experience prevailed at the end with the United States taking it 2-1.
This is what United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann had to say on dropping Altidore, "We believe that Jozy’s just not there yet. Jozy never really got into this tournament and never really picked up the rhythm. He’s just simply not in the shape right now to help us. For Jozy it’s just simply going back to Toronto, picking up his rhythm, getting in shape, working on his fitness and then he will start scoring goals again."
For the knockout stages, the United States made three official changes to their roster. The move that maved the most news was dropping Jozy Altidore for Alan Gordon. Gordon is a Galaxy striker who was one of few people being considered to be brought in with New England Revolution striker Juan Agudelo being considered as another option. The team dropped Alfredo Morales for Joe Corona and Greg Garza for DaMarcus Beasley for the other two moves.
Hello all, this Noel Alberto, and I'm here to bring you the first Gold Cup quarterfinal live between the defending Gold Cup champions the United States and Cuba. The game is set to kickoff at 5 PM EST at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. I'll be here to provide live commentary during the games. Stay tuned as well for a preview of the game.