After the match, both United States head coach Jurgen Klinsmann and Cuba head coach Raul Gonzalez had plenty to say about this match. Here are their post-match comments from their respective press-conferences, and we start with Coach Klinsmann's comments.
On Dempsey's first international hat-trick
"I didn't know it was his first international hat-trick... took him a long time," he joked as the room was filled with laughter after that comment.
"In a game like this with us being the favorite, and Cuba being a huge surprise going through, compliment to what they did, but obviously the pressure's on us. The expectations are on us, and you just wanna make sure they get the message that they really started with the right approach and right attitude," he said.
He continued by saying, "For strikers, in games like this, it's a huge opportunity. You don't want to kind of miss that chance maybe of getting more opportunities than you'll usually get in an international game. That's what I told him. Don't waste any chances and that's one point I made about the tournament so far. Once we are in the box, we don't need many chances. We are very clinical and Clint is the best example. Those are the games you want to have a few more than planned."
He gave an example of his 1990 World Cup game against United Arab Emirates where he didn't take it so seriously. He only scored one goal in that game and should've scored five and could've been top goalscorer of the tournament at that point. He told them to take it seriously and that the whole team was focused during the 90 minutes.
On the new players replacing Altidore scoring
He stated, "It's important to keep growing and get an opportunity to score goals. He (Aron) was hungry, always ready for the next opportunity and wants to move up in the rankings. It was nice to see."
"It was good to give Joe Corona 45 in the second half to get him going," he said. "Beas (DaMarcus Beasley) picked up a knock in his first training in his calf. So that's why you didn't see him come in."
On the challenges that Jamaica and Haiti posed
He mentioned, "The coaching staff will stay behind to see that game. Obviously two very different teams. We played Haiti and it was a real grind. Whoever goes through, it will be a very difficult match on Wednesday night in Atlanta."
Later he was asked on the threats Jamaica posed and said that he couldn't answer questions on the next game. That question would be answered by the two teams.
On what Cuba went through with their players and what he learned from his own team
He strongly stated that he wanted his team to take it seriously. He didn't want them to show off and would take someone off the pitch after ten minutes if they were taking it lightly.
He showed praise for Cuba by mentioning that they deserved to be in that quarterfinal, but what the coaching staff is going through is unthinkable. He also showed pride in his own team for not taking this lightly, scoring early, and giving the crowd a really good, entertaining game.
On Timothy Chandler's knee issue
He unconcerningly said, "It shouldn't be a big deal. During the water break at about half an hour, the knee bothered him. He told him that he would go on until halftime then would make a switch."
On what he liked about Dempsey other than the goals
He made it clear that the energy he brought was also good. He was constantly in the game and was "hungry for goals and has two more meals". He said goals are what drives him, and that Dempsey looks happy, balanced, and in good physical shape.
On if he changed anything tactically after coming out firing compared to group stage struggles
"No, we approach every opponent in its own specific way. We were fortunate to go through the group stage with two wins right away, it then allowed us to rotate some players and find more elements we wanted to see. I think we are in a very good spot right now going to Atlanta, well-prepared. Our goal is as simple as that, to win the Gold Cup."
Next up is Cuba head coach, Raul Gonzalez's comments.
On morale and spirit of team given player issue
"Yes I think the players were ready. A few days ago we finished with the Guatemala game but could not keep the pace today. We made some effort, but in the end, we're talking about the United States, one of the two best teams in the tournament along with Mexico," he disappointingly said.
If things would've been different had the missing and injured players been on the field
"I think we have what we have here. The players that aren't here now don't really mean anything to us as they have chosen their paths. I think playing with the players that we have, I think we could have done better, but the team's tired. It's their fourth game of the tournament, fourth game traveling around, and the team's wiped out. We did a little bit better in the second half but that doesn't really have any significance because the result is not what we really wanted," he said again in a disappointing tone.
He was later asked essentially the same question and asked why they were still talking about the issue. If they kept asking the same questions, he'd give the same answer.
On achieving their goals plus future goals
He said the team's first goal was to qualify for the tournament, and that they did. Their goal after that was to make it to the second round, and also did that.
He stated that the team's next goal was to focus on the Olympic qualifying tournament next.
On the new relationship between Cuba and the US
He mentioned that it could be good for Cuba by saying, "What the two nations are doing to improve relations is very important. I think our football in some future moment, maybe not immediately, will get better because of it. It can improve both technically and tactically going forward."