The United States try to get their Gold Cup campaign fully ablaze in Cigar City on Wednesday night, as they meet the French Caribbean island of Martinique in a Group B match that’s taken on substantially more weight in the wake of Saturday’s underwhelming 1-1 draw with Panama.
Entering the tournament on a high after a defeat of Ghana in last week’s warm-up friendly, the USMNT were brought crashing down to earth by Panama’s rugged display in Nashville, Tennessee. The favored North Americans were outplayed for several stretches of the match – and despite the Dom Dwyer goal that gave them a second-half lead, had goalkeeper Brad Guzan to thank for several saves that prevented what would’ve been an embarrassing loss in front of a loud, proud and dominantly pro-US crowd.
Martinique, meanwhile, showed some talent in their 2-0 defeat of Nicaragua in the second half of the Nashville doubleheader. Goals from Kevin Parsemain and Steeven Langil earned the French overseas department the result that has them sitting – for now – on top of the group, and on course for advancement to the knockout stages. Like Panama, they’d be more than happy to hold the mighty Yanks to a deadlock.
USA Outlook
“We didn’t play well on the day … I thought we didn’t deal well with the pressure, especially in the midfield. We turned over way too much. We didn’t do a good job of establishing a rhythm … Our passing wasn’t good on the day.”
Coach Bruce Arena didn’t have much nice to say about the USMNT’s performance in their tournament opener, and many other observers – including this outlet’s player ratings guru – concurred.
The promise shown by the Kellyn Acosta-Dax McCarty-Joe Corona central midfield trio against Ghana all but evaporated under the hot Tennessee sun, while a backline boasting no shortage of experience was beaten repeatedly.
Though Arena and several of his players – Acosta used the most blunt terms – admitted their shortage of quality, an “on to the next one” mentality prevailed, and with some justification. Panama was always going to be the toughest matchup of this group stage, and the U.S. will now hunt for two emphatic victories against Martinique and Nicaragua to ensure that they finish in first place, the reward for which is a quarterfinal meeting with one of the other groups’ third-place finishers.
Martinique Outlook
Thanks to their close connections to the French soccer landscape – the likes of Thierry Henry and Raphael Varane trace their heritage back to the island – Les Matinino have ample experience in big European leagues and thus far have shown little fear of the Gold Cup spotlight.
One wrinkle that could provide this David with a little extra help against Goliath: The squad’s current general manager is David Regis, the former U.S. international who was born on Martinique and is helping his native land prepare for this meeting.
Regis – a member of the Arena-led team that won the 2002 Gold Cup – has expressed some frustration with clubs’ reluctance to release Martiniquais players for this event, but still believes the group can thrive.
“We're in a tough group, but on the pitch, everything is possible,” he told France Football, specifically noting the value of the MLS experience brought to the team by Parsemain and Seattle’s Jordy Delem. “They have the talent. I see them working every day, and I am confident in their qualities … I try to make them understand that football is not a question of name or contract, it is a matter of men, and they will be judged only on the field.”
History
Though Martinique have participated in four previous Gold Cups, this is only the second meeting between these sides, both overall and in this tournament. A Brian McBride brace steered the U.S. to a 2-0 victory at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts when they first met, in the group stage of the 2003 Gold Cup.
