MIAMI, Florida – This Friday at 7:00 PM ET, Concacaf will be airing a re-broadcast of two Concacaf Gold Cup classics, the first being the 2017 Gold Cup Final between the United States and Jamaica, followed by the 2003 Final between Mexico and Brazil. Both matches will be shown on Concacaf’s Facebook and YouTube pages, plus the Concacaf App.
It was a setting between familiar foes when the 2017 Gold Cup Final kicked off between the U.S. and Jamaica on July 26, 2017 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Two years prior in the 2015 Gold Cup semifinals, the Reggae Boyz stunned the U.S., 2-1, to make history by becoming the first Caribbean nation to reach the Gold Cup Final.
In 2017 the islanders were back in the Final after posting a first ever Gold Cup win over Mexico in the semifinal and looking to take down the U.S. once again on home soil.
Jamaica was dealt a setback early on as an injury to 2017 Gold Cup Golden Glove winner Andre Blake forced Jamaica to make a goalkeeping change, with Dwayne Miller replacing Blake in the 23’.
It looked like the two teams would head to the halftime dressing room still locked in a scoreless draw, but U.S. FW Jozy Altidore had other ideas and curled a right-footed free kick into the top left corner of net in the 45’ to hand the U.S. a 1-0 lead.
Jamaica would respond almost immediately though after the re-start, as Je-Vaughn Watson out-muscled U.S. FW Jordan Morris on a corner kick and stabbed home a shot at the far post to bring the Reggae Boyz even 1-1 in the 50’.
Both teams were keen to find a winning goal before full-time, making for a dramatic final half-hour. In the end, it would come in the 88’ when U.S. FW Gyasi Zardes whipped in a cross from the right flank that the Jamaican defense tried to clear, but the ball fell to Morris and the right-footed shot from the Seattle Sounders man beat Miller to give the U.S. a late 2-1 lead.
Jamaica’s attempt at a last-gasp equalizer was not meant to be, as the final whistle sounded to signal a sixth Gold Cup crown for the U.S.
