United States 1-1 Jamaica (Jun 24, 2023) Game Analysis

Brandon Vazquez came off the bench to score a late goal as the United States drew 1-1 with Jamaica to begin Group A play in the Concacaf Gold Cup at Soldier Field on Saturday night. 

Interim coach B.J. Callaghan was still on the sidelines for the defending champion USMNT after coaching the team to the Nations League title, but he was overseeing a very different side against Jamaica, one that was comprised largely of MLS players and without most of the European stars that beat Canada last Sunday.

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A much more first-choice XI for Jamaica, which featured Premier League players Michail Antonio, Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Leon Bailey, took the lead in the 13th minute when Damian Lowe sent a diving header from Demarai Gray’s free kick past Matt Turner in the U.S. goal.

“For me, the biggest takeaway is the same exact thing we’ve told the players throughout this tournament is that our goal is to just get better each day,” Callaghan said after the match. “And so we’re going to be we were able to get better in this game. And we’re just going to continue to push to get better.

“We always knew that this was going to be a strong opponent. It’s a very talented to make a team that can that can hurt you in many different ways.”

A sloppy foul by Aidan Morris on Kevon Lambert gave Jamaica a penalty and a chance to double its lead, but Turner came up huge and saved Bailey’s spot kick, with the Aston Villa forward also shanking his close-range attempt from the rebound wide of the far post.

Jesus Ferreira set up the best chance of the first half for the U.S., but Andre Blake made a stellar save on Jordan Morris’ shot from close range to keep Jamaica in the lead at the break.

A pair of substitutes nearly had the U.S. back on level terms just after the 70th minute, but Blake once again came up big to…