Tres A Dos
As cups of beer, soda and maybe even urine rain down onto the pitch, the final of the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League Final whistle blows. In what may be the best CONCACAF Nations League Final of all time, the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) defeated their arch-rivals, Mexico, in extra time, 3-2. “Champions of the CONCACAF Champions League - YOU'LL NEVER SING THAT!”
I’m writing this 48 hour after the final, and I’m still buzzing. What a game - what a night. Christian Pulisic showed us that he deserves all the hype and the captain’s armband. Ethan Horvath stood on his head when faced with the pressure of a final against Mexico. Weston McKennie is the teammate I always want on my side. I can go on and on about Gio Reyna, Tyler Adams, DeAndre Yedlin, and the whole team. This team. OUR TEAM.
Admittedly, during the opening minutes of this match, I was jaded to the point of being a menace – at least according to my mother. A mistake at the back from Mark McKenzie led to a Jesús Corona goal just pasted the one-minute mark. At this point, the room was tense with my verbal agony. The tension and frustration of the last four years poured out of me in form of a tirade, which included gripes about Gregg Berhalter, the three in back formation, Tim Ream, and almost anything else I could think of. I was agitated that the USMNT was well on their way to yet another loss to Mexico. Then, mere moments later, the ball hit the back of the net for Mexico’s second goal. I was relegated (pun intended) to sitting in silence, much to my parents’ pleasure. Seconds later, I experienced emotional whiplash, as a VAR decision would overturn the goal due to Mexico being offside.
Speaking of whiplash, Gio Reyna’s awareness level led to a US goal, tying the match. The exclamations of both myself and my soccer-curious father emanated from my living room, which is one of my favorite moments I’ve had with him. The US did not deserve the goal, but soccer isn’t always fair.
Halftime was fun. Though Kate Abdo was great, Clint Dempsey stole the show and is my favorite person to ever wear sunglasses at night. Side note - did we ever find out if the person that fell over the edge of the CBS broadcast set on live TV is okay? As Kate Abdo said, this was already pretty “CONCACAFy.”
Zack Steffen’s non-contact injury blindsided me. I was looking at my phone and saw him holding his leg. I checked to see who could possibly come in for someone who has become so important to the USMNT - Ethan Horvath. “Okay, we should be fine. He’s alright,” I thought. Horvath is both experienced and talented, but a fear began to creep in: could a goalkeeper come in cold to a very intense match – not to mention, against a Mexico side that had several chances early in the second half - and perform as well as Zach Steffen? Nonetheless, Horvath made several big saves, especially… actually, let’s save that for later.
The 74’ goal from Lainez, who had only minutes before been subbed on, took the air out of my tires. I gave up, if nothing else but for the simple fact that I had no reason to believe that the US could, or would, fight back.
Then Weston McKennie showed up.
McKennie has been an unbelievable addition to this team. His fight, grit, and belief in both himself and his teammates is admirable and inspiring. He must have learned a thing or two about heading the ball from fellow Juventus teammate Cristiano Rinaldo.
As we entered hour 3 of the broadcast, my voice was gone, my feet ached and I was starting to feel sick. Little did I know that the next 30 minutes would be the most “CONCACAFy” half hour in ages. Christian Pulisic’s penalty made me feel numb. I celebrated, but I was also cautious - I felt like this couldn’t possibly be it. The twisted and drunken nature of this match would surely come for us again.
Boy, was I right.
Andres Guardado has broken my heart in the past with late-game heroics for Mexico. His leadership for the Mexican national team is something I’ve sincerely and earnestly respected for a long time. Still, why would you aim for the right side of the net when facing a right-handed keeper? He seemed too experienced to make a mistake like that – maybe he didn’t know Horvath’s handedness, since he is the backup keeper. Perhaps it was the head games one can expected when taking penalties. Regardless, Horvath saved more than just the penalty – he saved the match and the future hopes for the USMNT.
As for Ethan Horvath, what could I possible say? What do I even need to say? I cried - I really did. In that moment, I felt okay about the USMNT. In that moment, I felt like we had earned this moment - through years of disastrous failures, we persevered. We did it after two extra time periods that felt like an eternity. We did despite a rainy Denver night, despite the showers of beer and urine and despite a terrible start. We did it.
We’re champions.
