The United States men’s national team will take on Jamaica on Wednesday in the final of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup (6:30 p.m. PT; FS1, Univision), and it has the potential to be a momentous occasion for Seattle Sounders and U.S. forward Clint Dempsey.
Against Costa Rica in the semifinals, Dempsey entered as a substitute in the 66th minute of a scoreless game and had an instant impact. He set up Jozy Altidore’s game-winner before scoring on a free kick for his 57th international goal, tying Landon Donovan’s all-time U.S. men’s record.
A player known throughout his illustrious career for stepping up on big stages, Dempsey is aware of the history that looms.
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“It would be great [to break the record],” Dempsey said from U.S. camp on Monday, “and especially to do it in a final and try and help your team win a trophy would be awesome, so hopefully that’s in the cards for me. We’ll see.”
The prospect of competing for another international title is not lost on Dempsey either. While he understands the headlines surrounding him, he’s focused and committed to helping the United States lift another trophy.
“We were in a tough spot having lost the first two games of qualifying, now we’re a few days away from having the possibility to win a cup and we’re a few months away from having the possibility of qualifying for Russia,” said Dempsey. “There’s still work to be done. There’s no time to think that you’ve made it. You still have to go out there and get the job done, but we know we’re in a good position to accomplish two big things this year.”
The path was set for Dempsey, Jordan Morris and the U.S. to battle rival Mexico for the Gold Cup title, but a late Kemar Lawrence free kick led Jamaica to an unexpected upset of El Tri. Two of Dempsey’s 57 career goals have come against Jamaica, the team against whom he made his international debut on November 17, 2004 in a World Cup Qualifying match.
Dempsey expects Wednesday’s match to be a tough one against a side that has played well all tournament. The Reggae Boyz have been fantastic defensively, and featuring Sounders defender Oniel Fisher on the back line, they’ve only allowed two goals in five games.
“It’s exciting to be going to another final,” said Dempsey. “We just have to make sure that we take advantage of this opportunity because you don’t get a lot of opportunities in your career to be in finals. You want to make them count and hopefully we do.
“We’re going to have to be at our best,” he continued, “but if we’re at our best I think we’re going to get the job done.”
