ASN: Clint Dempsey Rises Above Controversy to Lead U.S.

The 32-year-old ahead started the 2015 Gold Cup in a swirl of controversy however he has responded brilliantly, scoring six targets in 4 video games and main the U.S. to an unbeaten file.

BY

Brian Sciaretta

Posted
July 20, 2015
9:20 AM

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THREE WEEKS AGO Clint Dempsey was suspended for 3 video games by Main League Soccer as punishment for abusing a referee throughout a U.S. Open Cup match. After that, U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann stripped Dempsey of his captaincy and handed the armband to Michael Bradley.

No person knew for positive how the proud, pugnacious Texan would reply to the extremely public upbraiding. Would he apologize? Would he sulk? Would he redouble his efforts and attempt to redeem himself? 

Sure. No. And completely.

I wish to apologize for my actions within the U.S. Open Cup.

— Clint Dempsey (@clint_dempsey) June 25, 2015

By means of the Gold Cup quarterfinals Dempsey is by far probably the most dominant participant within the match. He scored three of his group’s 4 targets through the group part and his terrific go was essential within the construct as much as the opposite objective. Then, in opposition to an overmatched Cuban group within the quarterfinals, Dempsey scored a hat trick to lift his tournament-leading whole to 6. His profession objective tally for the nationwide group is 47.

“They’re a team that had some good quality players on it,” Dempsey mentioned of Cuba. “When you start well and you get goals, you get confidence. Then the game has to open up. In the other games, that wasn’t the case. We know they’re a team that grows in confidence as the game goes along. You could see that in their Guatemala game. So credit to them in dealing with the situations they had to deal with and getting out of their group.

“At the same time, we knew we had to put on a professional performance, and we did.”

The 32-year-old will little doubt be the focus of the American assault in opposition to Jamaica on Wednesday (6pm ET; Fox Sports activities 1, UniMas).

The Gold Cup is a go/fail match for the Yanks: Successful is the one factor that issues and something that falls brief is a failure—as Bob Bradley realized in 2011 when he was fired shortly after dropping to Mexico within the last. 

In fact with this Gold Cup, the prize isn’t merely regional dominance. If the U.S. wins it could clinch a berth within the 2017 Confederations Cup, whereas a loss would power it right into a playoff in opposition to this yr’s champion.  

“You always want to score as many goals as possible but the important thing is that the team does well and we try to win this tournament and we can be in the Confederations Cup,” Dempsey mentioned. “We all know we now have two troublesome video games in entrance of us and that the semifinals will probably be powerful. We won’t look previous Jamaica. We have now to ensure we take a look at the tape and work on issues however I really feel like we’re shifting in the appropriate course.

“I think the level in CONCACAF is good,” he added. “You take a look at the final World Cup with Costa Rica, Mexico, and ourselves, all of us received out of our teams. We represented CONCACAF effectively. The Gold Cup is unquestionably match with some good groups.

“You have to be at your greatest if you wish to win this match.”

Klinsmann, for one, is is worked up at what Dempsey has delivered to the desk to this point on the Gold Cup.

“I didn’t know it was his first international hat trick. It took him a long time,” Klinsmann joked after the Cuba match. “For strikers in a game like this, it’s a huge opportunity. You don’t want to miss that chance to get more opportunities than you might usually get in an international game.

“That’s what I told them: ‘Don’t waste any chances.’ I think that’s one good point throughout the tournament so far, we don’t need many chances. Once we are in the box, we are very clinical. I think Clint is the best example. There’s no doubt about it.”

Behaving in a really, effectively, captainlike method, Dempsey deflected reward and was fast to credit score his teammates for getting him the ball in harmful positions.  

After his early objective, nevertheless, Dempsey and the remainder of the U.S. performed with a swagger that we hadn’t seen from them on this match.

“Sometimes starting well in a game comes down to getting a good first touch, getting a good first pass, being confident and not being nervous from the jump,” Dempsey defined. “At present we have been simply sharp and we’re getting sharper.

“Scoring targets, getting a clear sheet, individuals getting an help, individuals scoring targets—the boldness positively grows within the group. Because the match goes on, we’re getting stronger as a bunch.

“Hopefully our best is yet to come.”