USMNT finally land a big win as Gold Cup gets underway; Club World Cup in full swing as PSG and Bayern romp
Summer is here but there's no time for football to take a break. Why this weekend alone we've had Gold Cup and Club World Cup, both of which will go careening on into this week and beyond. I'm James Benge, let's take a look back at what you might have missed this weekend:
📺 Footy fixAll times U.S./Eastern
Monday, June 16🏆 CWC: Chelsea vs. Los Angeles FC, 3 p.m. ➡️ DAZN🏆 CWC: Boca Juniors vs. Benfica, 6 p.m. ➡️ DAZN🌎 Gold Cup: Jamaica vs. Guatemala, 10 p.m. ➡️ FS1
Tuesday, June 17🏆 CWC: Fluminense vs. Borussia Dortmund, 12 p.m. ➡️ DAZN🇪🇺 U21 Euros: Spain vs. Italy, 3 p.m. ➡️ Vix🌎 Gold Cup: Canada vs. Honduras, 10:30 p.m. ➡️ FS1
⚽ The Forward Line🇺🇸 USMNT win!In his report on last night's game, Chuck Booth was at pains to warn you all "don't get carried away." I'm here to tell you the exact opposite. The US men's national team have won a soccer match! And they've done it by five goals! Everything is so, so back.
Ok, maybe not. Trinidad and Tobago are hardly the sternest opposition that the USMNT are going to face in the Gold Cup, let alone in the bigger assignments to come next summer. The Soca Warriors had never won on American soil before and they didn't get close on Sunday night, Malik Tillman scoring the first two in what wound up being a comprehensive 5-0 win for Mauricio Pochettino's men. Across the pitch, the US looked stronger and more incisive, dominating possession on their way to 21 shots and 3.6 expected goals. The margin of the win did not flatter the hosts in San Jose.
That matters, more than perhaps it ought to, given the trying circumstances that the USMNT finds itself in. Four defeats on the spin is not exactly a formula for winning morale nor did any of those results imbue much hope over the quality of the back ups and back ups to the back ups. Meanwhile the starriest of stars, Christian Pulisic, was jabbing at Mauricio Pochettino about the games he might wish to pick and choose. The US needed to change the conversation. They did that.
- Pochettino: "Today's game was also a difficult one, especially because of the negative things that happened in recent weeks. Some results that haven't gone well always generate a bit of noise. It's important for the players to have that confidence."
Now there is an opportunity to build real momentum and for a few of those fringe players to carve out bigger roles. Tillman translating his PSV Eindhoven form to the national team suggests he should not even be in the fringe category. Perhaps the same was true of Diego Luna, impressive once more on his way to two assists. Up next in Austin is Saudi Arabia, another faltering future World Cup host albeit with plenty more time to build something. Beat them and the knockout stages will beckon, bringing with them a real prospect of more silverware. After a trying few months, that would go down very nicely for USMNT.
This SaturdayWith the first weekend in the bag, the Club World Cup is going just about as you would expect. FIFA was at great pains on Saturday morning to pronounce the kick off of the tournament a "resounding success" as 60,927 spectators at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium (that's about 93% capacity) were treated to Robbie Williams, Lionel Messi and, well, no goals. That was not for the want of trying by Al Ahly, who were denied an upset win by the heroics of Oscar Ustari in the Inter Miami goal. Trezeguet saw his penalty saved, Lionel Messi hit the woodwork and the Herons had to settle for a point.
That leaves Group A as intriguingly set as it promised to be at the outset, the only one where it didn't profile as having a runaway European winner. Palmeiras proved that to be the case, having the better of the game despite being held to a 0-0 draw by Porto, as Pardeep Cattry noted:
- Cattry: "In an attack-focused match, it was easy to argue that they were the better of the two teams, outshooting Porto 17 to 11 and posting 2.22 expected goals to the Portuguese side's 0.84. Estevao, the 18-year-old who is on his way to Chelsea once the Club World Cup is over, took three shots of his own and generated 0.89 expected goals on his own from them."
That might have been the most intriguing game of the week, which says a lot for the relative imbalance elsewhere. Bayern Munich did what you would expect they would do an amateur side from New Zealand, only to the max, winning 10-0 against Auckland City. Seattle Sounders were not so outclassed but their defeat for Botafogo means they are right on the edge of elimination from an extremely tough group.
Their best hope might come in the faltering of Atletico Madrid, reduced to 10 men and crushed 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain. Diego Simeone's side looked heavy legged, like a team that were supposed to be on the beach after a 56 game season. Aaah, yes.
- Simeone: "From the perspective of intent and commitment, I saw a team that always wanted to do it, but couldn't. PSG were better, superior... took the ball away from us... "When [PSG boss] Luis Enrique needed help on the left wing, they spent €70m in January to sign someone [Khvicha Kvaratskhelia]."
The sheer heft of that defeat means they are going to have quite the match on their hands when they face Botafogo in the final round of group stage games. With Group A up in the air and Group B also intriguingly set, there does at least to seem to be bubbling intrigue around knockout stage qualification. The same could be true as Boca Juniors face off against Benfica tonight.
🔗 Top Stories🏆 CWC hub: Looking to keep up to date with the games, the talking points and the standings? Here's everything you need to know about the Club World Cup.
🇳🇿 About that 10-0 loss: Yes it's not a great look for the Club World Cup or indeed for Auckland City that they just lost by double digits to Bayern Munich. Still, it probably was even more of a freak result than you might think. Here's why.
🇺🇸 USMNT talking points: All the goals and analysis from the 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago.
❌ Taremi stuck in Iran: As tensions mount between Iran and Israel, Inter striker Mehdi Taremi finds himself stuck in Tehran. He will not travel to the Club World Cup.
💰 The Back Line💵 Best bets- Club World Cup: Chelsea vs. Los Angeles FC, Monday, 3 p.m.💰 THE PICK: Cole Palmer to score and assist (+550) – England international Palmer may have seen his output slow down somewhat in the final months of last season but he was still a man who seemed to raise his game on the biggest of occasions. Never was that more apparent than in his brilliant display in the Conference League final, where he kept finding space to play a pass or take a shot against inferior opposition. It's very tempting to back him to do the same this time out.
For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don't miss out on CBSSports.com's betting home page.
📺 What we're watching☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10 a.m.): Join Golazo Network as it helps fans get their day started on the right foot on the network's flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest soccer storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast form, so you'll never have to miss an episode.
☀️ Morning Footy (10 a.m. ET): A special edition of Morning Footy, the network's flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest soccer storylines, will kick off Golazo Network's coverage of the big game. Morning Footy is also available in podcast form, so you'll never have to miss an episode.
🥅 Scoreline (7 p.m. ET): Scoreline is the place for fans to catch up on all the biggest news and results impacting global football, match highlights from the top soccer competitions and all the can't-miss goals from the day's action, airing seven days a week.
📺 How to watch: CBS Sports Golazo Network is a free 24/7 channel exclusively dedicated to offering unparalleled coverage of all the top soccer competitions worldwide. You can stream for free on the CBS Sports app, Pluto TV and Paramount+.
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