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The United States only very narrowly averted a major disaster against Martinique on Wednesday night in Tampa. With that out of the way, the team will head up to Cleveland for the last of the group stage matches in the Gold Cup against a Nicaragua team that should ultimately go down easily.
This Gold Cup duel will go down Saturday, July 15, 2017, at 7 p.m. ET at First Energy Stadium. The match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1.
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Odds Analysis
What to make of this American team! This definitely isn't a team that is winning this tournament is this is the way it's going to play. Bruce Arena was visibly annoyed in the second half when his team coughed up a 2-0 lead only to ultimately come back seconds later and reassume the lead. Still, this wasn't Mexico or Costa Rica we're talking about. This was Martinique, one of the worst teams in the tournament.
The USA will have to be favored by a relatively wide margin against a Nicaragua team that still doesn't have a point from two matches in the Gold Cup. But will it be a -600 favorite as it was against Martinique? We can't see that happening.
How They Got Here
Very carefully. If we're honestly assessing this American team, at best, this squad gets a D for how it has played thus far in the Gold Cup. A draw against Panama really wasn't good enough, and after 50+ fruitless minutes against Martinique, to go up 2-0 and 12 minutes later be back on terms was a disaster waiting to happen. The good news is that Arena's men rallied with the next few kicks of the ball, giving Jordan Morris his brace and securing three points for the host nation.
Still, the Americans are merely on terms with Panama, and though they're assured of advancing out of the group stage at this point, there's a huge difference between finishing first and second in this group. Win Group B, and a third place team is going to be on tap in the quarterfinals. Finishing second, and there's a real chance to be stuck facing Costa Rica in the quarters instead.
The good news for the USA is that Panama plays Martinique first on Saturday night in Cleveland. Assuming that Panama wins, the Yanks will have to ultimately win by one more goal than Panama did to win the group.
Let's not totally count Nicaragua out of this yet. The Nicaraguans can't advance as a first or second place team, but if Panama takes care of business against Martinique, there's at least a shot to advance left by finishing third. Granted, a team that has scored just one goal in two matches and only has one goal in its history at the Gold Cup shouldn't be a threat to the mighty United States; then again, neither should have Martinique.
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We're not sure what the Americans are going to do from here. The roster that was put out against Martinique looked nothing like the one that drew against Panama. There was some better play in the final third, but this midfield was again a wreck and really needs some work. Perhaps it's time to try a different formation?
Either way, with experimentation clearly being the name of the game for Arena, we can't back the red, white and blue as easy as it would be to do. Even if Nicaragua has nothing to play for, we can't help but wonder if this match will end up being more competitive than it should.
Gold Cup Odds: Nicaragua 0, United States 0
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