USMNT draws Jamaica 1-1 in Gold Cup opener thanks to late equalizer from Brandon Vazquez

CHICAGO, Ill. – One week after winning its second straight Concacaf Nations League trophy, the U.S. Men’s National Team began its pursuit of a second consecutive Concacaf Gold Cup title with a dramatic 1-1 tie with Jamaica.

Second-half substitute Brandon Vazquez’s 88th minute goal Saturday night leveled the game in front of 36,666 fans at Soldier Field. Dating back to the 2021 Gold Cup title run, the USA has scored the winning or tying goal after the 83rd minute in four straight Gold Cup matches.

With only five players remaining from the CNL team, head coach B.J. Callaghan’s side saw six players make their debuts in official competition in starters Aidan Morris, Alan Soñora, and John Tolkin, and substitutes Cade Cowell, Jalen Neal and Vazquez. Morris, Soñora, Cowell and Vazquez are now cap-tied to the USA.

The U.S. had its first solid chance after eight minutes of play that started with a cleared chance on the defensive end by Tolkin, who got the ball back from Alex Zendejas before sending a long ball forward to Jesús Ferreira. The World Cup veteran paused outside the box and fed Soñora a nice ball into the box, but Soñora’s left-footed attempt was saved by goalkeeper Andre Blake falling to his left.

Jamaica then took the lead in the 13th minute when Damion Lowe finished a free kick with a diving header from eight yards out.

The Reggae Boyz nearly doubled the lead in the 27th minute, but U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner – wearing the captain’s armband for the first time, and on his 29th birthday – made a diving save of Leon Bailey’s penalty kick after Kevon Lambert was fouled in the box by Morris. Bailey pushed the ensuing rebound wide.

The U.S. nearly tied the game in stoppage time of the first half, but Blake made a fantastic save on Jordan Morris’s attempt after a quick-pass build up from Soñora and Ferreira left him open in the box.

The U.S. maintained the balance of possession throughout the second half and the team pressed high in search of the equalizer. It finally came five minutes after Vazquez entered the match as he found himself just outside the six when a loose ball fell at his feet and he seized the opportunity finishing past Blake for his second career goal.

The USA now travels to St. Louis for its second match of the Group Stage, taking on St. Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday, June 28 at CITYPARK (10pm ET, FS1 and UniMás).

GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN

JAM – Damion Lowe (Demarai Gray), 13th minute: Demarai Gray whipped a dipping free kick from nearly 40 yards on the right side into the center of the box, where a miscommunication on the US backline allowed Lowe to be unmarked behind the defense. Lowe met the ball with a powerful diving header from eight yards out to put Jamaica ahead. USA 0, JAM 1

USA – Brandon Vazquez (Unassisted), 88th minute: Pushing up, Miazga kept a ball on the offensive end and played Ferreira, who cut to his left and settled, sending a right-footed cross into the six. The ball hit defender Dexter Lembikisa and fell to Vazquez, who – five minutes after coming on – made no mistake with a clean finish eight yards out for his second career goal. USA 1, JAM 1

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• The Starting XI had an average age of 25 years, 316 days and averages 23 caps and 12 appearances in official competition.
• Matt Turner celebrated his 29th birthday by captaining the USMNT for the first time tonight. Turner is the 30th player in team history to earn a birthday cap.
• Turner’s penalty kick save on Leon Bailey in the 28th minute was the second of his international career. He memorably stopped a penalty in his USMNT debut, a 7-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago on Jan. 31, 2021 in Orlando.
• Six players made their debuts in official competition: starters Aidan Morris, Alan Soñora, and John Tolkin, and substitutes Cade Cowell, Jalen Neal and Brandon Vazquez.
• Tonight’s appearances also cap-tied Cade Cowell, Aidan Morris, Alan Soñora and Brandon Vazquez to the United States.
• Seven players made their Gold Cup debuts: Cade Cowell, Jesús Ferreira, Aidan Morris, Jalen Neal, Alan Soñora, John Tolkin, Alex Zendejas and Brandon Vazquez.
• Vazquez scored his second goal in his fourth international match. His previous goal was on January 25, 2023 in a loss to Serbia.
• Center back Matt Miazga made his first start since March 28, 2021 at Northern Ireland.
• Substitute attacker Cristian Roldan made his first appearance since June 10, 2022 against Grenada.
• A product of nearby Lemont, Ill., substitute Djordje Mihailovic made his first international appearance since Dec. 9, 2020 against El Salvador.
• James Sands and Matt Turner made their seventh consecutive Gold Cup appearances. The duo featured in all six of the USA’s matches in the 2021 edition of the tournament.
• Jordan Morris has two goals in his three previous appearances against Jamaica. The veteran winger scored a memorable 88th minute winner to help the USA to a 2-1 victory against the Reggae Boyz in the 2017 Gold Cup Final. Earlier that year, he tallied the only goal in a 1-0 win against Jamaica on Feb. 5 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• Julian Gressel was excused from attending camp this week due to the pending birth of his child.
• The USA holds a 19-3-10 advantage in the all-time series against Jamaica and is 12-2-8 against the Reggae Boyz in competitive matches.
• The USMNT is 6-1-1 all-time in Gold Cup matches against Jamaica.

– U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT –

Match: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Jamaica
Date: June 24, 2023
Competition: 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup; Group A
Venue: Soldier Field; Chicago, Ill.
Attendance: 36,666
Kickoff: 10 p.m. ET (9 p.m. local time)
Weather: 75 degrees; clear

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F

USA                            0          1          1
JAM                             1          0          1

JAM – Damion Lowe (Demarai Gray)                        13th minute
USA – Brandon Vazquez                                           88

Lineups:

USA: 1-Matt Turner; 2-DeAndre Yedlin, 4-Matt Miazga, 3-Aaron Long (20-Jalen Neal, 46), 21-John Tolkin (19-Brandon Vazquez, 82); 16-Aidan Morris, 8-James Sands, 7-Alan Soñora (14-Djordje Mihailovic, 66); 17-Alex Zendejas (10-Cristian Roldan, 66), 9-Jesús Ferreira, 13-Jordan Morris (11-Cade Cowell, 55)

Substitutes not used: 18-Sean Johnson, 23-Gaga Slonina, 5-Bryan Reynolds, 6-Gianluca Busio, 12-Miles Robinson, 15-DeJuan Jones

Not Dressed: 22-Julian Gressel

Head Coach: B.J. Callaghan

JAM: 1-Andre Blake; 2-Dexter Lembikisa, 17-Damion Lowe, 19-Adrian Mariappa, 4-Amari’i Bell (20-Kemar Lawrence, 65); 10-Bobby Reid, 3-Kevon Lambert, 15-Joel Latibeaudiere, 12-Demarai Gray (8-Daniel Johnson, 90); 7-Leon Bailey (11-Shamar Nicholson 90), 18-Michail Antonio (9-Cory Burke, 75)

Substitutes not used: 13-Coniah Boyce-Clarke, 23-Jahmali Waite, 6-Di’Shon Bernard, 14-Dujuan Richards, 16-Kaheem Parris, 21-Javain Brown, 22-Jon Russell

Head Coach: Heimir Hallgrímsson

Stats Summary: USA / JAM

Shots: 13 / 6
Shots on Goal: 4 / 3
Saves: 2 / 3
Corner Kicks: 5 / 2
Fouls: 12 / 12
Offside: 0 / 1

Misconduct Summary:

JAM – Damion Lowe (Caution)          3rd minute
JAM – Kemar Lawrence (Caution)     83
JAM – Andre Blake (Caution)             85

Officials:

Referee: Cesar Ramos (MEX)
AR1: Alberto Morin (MEX)
AR2: Marco Bisguerra (MEX)
4th Official: Fernando Guerrero (MEX)
VAR: Erick Miranda (MEX)
Assistant VAR: Jorge Perez (MEX)

U.S. Soccer Man of the Match: Matt Turner