Miles Robinson headed home an extra-time winner as the United States beat Mexico 1-0 in the 2021 Gold Cup final Sunday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Matt Turner made a stellar save just after 10 minutes — his 20th of the tournament — from a goal-bound Rogelio Funes Mori header to keep the score level early.
The U.S. missed a great chance to take the lead at 25 minutes when, after dispossessing Mexico in its own half, Sebastian Lletget sprang Paul Arriola in the area, but his shot came back off the post with only the keeper to beat.
Despite having the better of the shots and possession, Mexico failed to score as a scrappy U.S. side went into halftime tied 0-0.
Orbelin Pineda wasted two opportunities to put Mexico in front to start the second half: one from a wide-open shot in the penalty area and the second from close range on a ball in from the right flank.
The U.S. was undeterred though, and Matthew Hoppe had two good chances blocked away by the Mexican defense, while Arriola had a shot on the doorstep impossibly stopped by El Tri keeper Alfredo Talavera as the second half progressed.
A thrilling end to regular time saw both sides fashion decent chances without scoring and the game headed to extra time.
The extra 30 minutes continued the theme of the game: Plenty of action but no goals, until Robinson hooked on to a Kellyn Acosta free kick in the 117th minute and beat Talavera to give the U.S. a massive win.
The U.S., which secured its seventh Gold Cup title, beat Mexico in the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League final with a Christian Pulisic extra-time winner on June 6 in the teams’ last meeting.
“All losses are painful, especially in circumstances like these,” Mexico manager Gerardo Martino said after the match. “I believe we’ve competed well against the United States. We had really great moments in our favor tonight. This loss shouldn’t be a catastrophe for the team, of course it hurts, but we’ll look to improve.
“It’s true we lost two finals, and it’s true we’ve lost those games on set pieces, but I don’t see why we should change our style of play.
“We didn’t prepare this team for 2.5 years to play one way [in the Nations League and Gold Cup] and then to play a different way in the qualifiers.”
The U.S. went into the match Sunday as the underdog because many of its top players from the Nations League tourney were not on the Gold Cup roster so they could prepare for their European seasons.
In fact, there were only three holdovers from the Nations League tournament compared to Mexico fielding eight starters Sunday, who also played in the Nations League final.
“We were aware that [the United States] could hurt us on set pieces and they did, again,” Mexico veteran Hector Herrera said. “I don’t agree [with the honeymoon with Martino being over]. We have to evaluate ourselves and reload for qualifying. If we win, we’re criticized. If we lose, we’re criticized.
“It definitely hurts [to lose]. But I think we’re calm and we’re good though because we dominated throughout — we just couldn’t score.”