PASADENA, Calif. – The CONCACAF Cup did not go the way that Gyasi Zardes and the rest of the U.S. National Team wanted, but the upbeat LA Galaxy forward believes better days are ahead for him and the U.S. squad.
Mexico defender Paul Aguilar stole the show with a remarkable volley that gave El Tri a 3-2 extra time victory over the United States that secures them a place in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. Zardes went 78 minutes in the defeat however the forward was limited to a mostly defensive role as Mexico dominated possession and limited the USMNT’s attacking options to rare counterattacks.
Despite ending up on the losing end, the match was still an experience for the relative USMNT newcomer to savor.
“We had a phenomenal game. The guys played their hearts out, and they played an amazing game. It was just unlucky… what a volley they scored, you need to give [Aguilar] credit,” Zardes told LAGalaxy.com after the loss. “It was still amazing to play in my hometown and represent my country. There is no better feeling.”
The hometown crowd might not have seen Zardes showcase the full range of his attacking talents, but they did witness his burgeoning defending skills.
After losing his man on the Sounders’ late tying goal in their 1-1 draw with the Galaxy a week earlier, Zardes showed no such lapses while donning the No. 9 shirt for the USMNT.
With the Americans unable to control possession, Zardes was pushed deep into his own defensive end to help the USMNT keep El Tri off the board. The Galaxy striker did just that in the 55th minute when he made a vital clearance of an Aguilar attempt on the doorstep to keep Mexico from taking the lead.
“That was the game plan to cover their outside backs if they pushed up high. I didn’t have too much joy going forward but what can you do?” Zardes said. “I wanted to stay tucked in and keep the unit together. We knew that they would pressure us. Our plan was to cover each other.”
The play of players like Zardes was a rare bright spot for U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who admitted after the defeat that the time is now to start grooming the next generation of USMNT players.
“Our responsibility is to give fresh blood more opportunities,” Klinsmann said. “To give fresh players like DeAndre Yedlin, Gyasi or Bobby Wood and hopefully other ones as well opportunity to break in and give them an open fight for a spot. The team gave everything that they had tonight on the field, and they deserve a compliment.”
With the defeat still fresh in his mind, Zardes believes it is time to improve so that he’ll never have to suffer a loss like Saturday’s again.
“A game like this, although we lost, I learned a lot from it. I’m going to try to grow more as a player, and I’m going to get better. I’m going keep working extremely hard and this is motivation to get back in the gym, to get back on the field and put in the extra work so that next time around, we don’t have the same feeling. We can come out on top.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at www.LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com