Exciting Concacaf and UEFA Games Analysis & Highlights

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00:00We had a great game this week, CONCACAF, UEFA Nation League, CONMEBOL, the final for the

00:10NWSA, a lot of action, I'm very happy, very excited, let's go.

00:15Perfect, let's do this.

00:16Well let's start with the US facing Jamaica, a quarterfinal clash that seemed to be a little

00:22challenging for the US.

00:23Let's not forget that Jamaica has reached two Gold Cup finals in the last eight years,

00:28so a team that's always challenging in CONCACAF, but this time around, no problem in this new

00:32stage for Mauricio Pochettino.

00:34I mean it's clear that the team is reacting positively to what Pochettino wants, very

00:39few sessions of training, and we're starting to see the results.

00:42Of course, they went to the first leg playing in a field that was below the level of the

00:49conditions that you would like for an organized, long strokes, big passes, but it was more

00:55of an attitude that the US team needed to prove.

00:59There were key moments of the team, the US dominated possession, clearly, 65%, Yunus

01:05Moussa, stunning 25 yard goal.

01:08You're starting to see this trust, this confidence in the players, and that comes from the coach.

01:13I'm very excited to see what they can achieve, because clearly they're the best team in CONCACAF

01:17right now.

01:18Well how about the front four, if we can call it that, Mauricio Pochettino's using McKinney,

01:23he's using Yunus Moussa on one side, Tim Weah on the other wing, and Ricardo Pepi up

01:29front.

01:30I mean, Ricardo Pepi is a guy that I cover a lot, I did a lot of his games in 2021 when

01:34he was with Dallas before he went to Europe.

01:36A guy that could be streaky, but when you talk about number nine, I think you have to

01:40be streaky.

01:41You're going to go under those long spells where you can't score to save your life, but

01:45at the same time, when you're hot, you're hot, and Ricardo Pepi especially demonstrated

01:49that for Dallas in the second half of the 2021 MLS season.

01:53That's how he managed all that attention in Germany, then in the Netherlands, so very

01:58happy to see what Pepi is doing as a striker that the U.S. definitely needed.

02:02There's so many failed attempts to be elite in the World Cup, I mean, going all the way

02:07back, I guess, to 2014, that game against Belgium, that amazing, amazing journey with

02:13Tim Howard, but they really hadn't had that squad after missing in 2018.

02:19I think this could be the time, finally, for this U.S. talent to develop.

02:22I mean, it's clear.

02:23If you see the roster that this team has right now, the amount of players that are competing

02:28at the highest level in Europe, we have Pulisic at the forefront.

02:31You see, you're talking about this new attack, right?

02:34Sixteen shots compared to six, compared to nine from Jamaica.

02:38You clearly see that this team was talking business.

02:40They wanted to move forward.

02:41They wanted to be vertical.

02:43The pass accuracy, 92%.

02:46A team that the quality of their players playing at Serie A, the highest levels in all of the

02:55British leagues, Spain, it's clear that the roster has everything they need to do a deep

03:01run in the next World Cup.

03:02Well, they're going to be in the semifinals now.

03:05We are going to be heading to SoFi Stadium, by the way, very close to our Latin Nation

03:08studios in Inglewood.

03:10So the semifinals, we will play there.

03:12The final will be played at SoFi Stadium as well.

03:14So very excited to go back into that monster of a stadium.

03:18But another team that already punched your ticket into the next round, how about Panama?

03:23A team that has also been a threat.

03:25Then going back to the last 20 years, we talk about Jamaica and their prowess when talking

03:29about CONCACAF and having to deal with the monsters with Mexico, the U.S., and now Canada.

03:34Panama, the only team not named U.S. or Mexico that has reached the Gold Cup final three

03:40times in the last 20 years.

03:42This time around, I think they can be a strong contender in this nation's league.

03:46It is showing that they had in both games, it was very, very consistent.

03:51Costa Rica is not an easy team.

03:52They gave up a good fight, but the results are clear.

03:55The 1-0 win in San Jose from Panama was critical for them advancing.

04:00They had a really good performance from Alberto Quintero, scoring that goal, very tightly

04:05contested.

04:06Costa Rica struggled in the midfield, completing only 70% of their passes, which in modern

04:11football will put you at a disadvantage, and clearly was chasing after the game for most

04:17part of the series.

04:19Panama will be a really strong opponent in the next round, and as you said, is one of

04:24those teams that is a sleeper team.

04:26If you get distracted, Panama will make you suffer.

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