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CONCACAF Gold Cup | Quarter-Finals
Jul 18, 2015 at 10pm UK
 
CN

6-0

Dempsey (4', 65' pen., 77'), Zardes (15'), Johannsson (32'), Gonzalez (45')
FT(HT: 4-0)

Live Commentary: USA 6-0 Cuba - as it happened

:Headline: Live Commentary: USA 6-0 Cuba - as it happened: ID:234161: from db_amp
Relive Sports Mole's live commentary as USA demolish Cuba 6-0 in Baltimore to reach the CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-finals.

Host nation USA have advanced into the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup following a 6-0 demolition of Cuba in Baltimore.

Goals inside the first 15 minutes from Clint Dempsey and Gyasi Zardes helped Jurgen Klinsmann's side well on their way.

Aron Johansson netted a superb lob to add a third, before Omar Gonzalez made it four on the stroke of half time.

Dempsey then added a fifth from the penalty spot, before completing his hat-trick on 77 minutes. Below, relive the rout with our live commentary.

To paraphrase Tony Montana, everybody's favourite Cuban-American, every underdog has its day. And Raul Gonzalez Triana's Cuba side will be hoping to cause a major upset by knocking out host nation USA en route to the semi-final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. However, unlike Mr Montana, the Cubans have hardly taken the United States by storm since arriving. Imagine Scarface if he gained his green card and then spent the next 20 years being a binman instead of a drug baron.
At 33/1, Cuba's odds of winning are longer than one of their famous cigars. If you're cynical, you could say that they have about as much chance of victory as Montana did of passing a drugs test prior to his untimely death. Then again, Jurgen Klinsmann and co have not exactly lived up to their pre-tournament billing thus far.
The hosts managed a couple of rather unflattering wins over Honduras and Haiti by a one-goal margin, before drawing 1-1 with Panama. They were the overwhelming favourites in all three of their Group A games. But we're yet to see them justify the hype.
Meanwhile, Cuba shipped just the six goals in a 6-0 defeat to Mexico in their curtain-raiser, before losing 2-0 to Trinidad and Tobago. Just when their American dream looked set to go up in smoke - or cocaine, if we're still on a Scarface buzz - they went and beat Guatemala 1-0 to qualify as one of the best third-placed teams.
In fact, four of their 23-man squad have defected! In other words, they've done a Roy Keane and decided to leave. But something tells me they didn't do so on principle.
USA XI: Guzan; Johnson, Alvarado, Gonzalez, Chandler; Beckerman; Bedoya, Bradley, Zardes; Dempsey, Johannsson
CUBA XI: Guerra; Ruiz, Horta, Napoles, Diz Pe; Clavelo, Gomez, Corrales Cordero, Perez; Luis Saez, Reyes
Right, so I can tell you that Klinsmann makes three changes in all. Omar Gonzalez comes into central defence for the suspended John Brooks. Further forward, Chris Wondolowski and Alfredo Morales drop out for Aron Johannsson and Clint Dempsey, whose three goals has him tied in the race for the Golden Boot.
Meanwhile, Cuba make just the two changes from their win over Guatemala. Yenier Marquez drops out of defence for Angel Horta, while Liban Perez comes in for Ariel Martinez in midfield. Thankfully, Maykel Reyes, who scored that crucial winner against Guatemala to get Cuba here, isn't one of the players who has gone walk-about.
Incidentally, these two faced off in the group stage of the 2013 edition of the Gold Cup, which saw USA ultimately win 4-1. They did, however, go one goal behind in Utah that night. Who knows what could happen tonight! Stranger things have happened.
Quite ominously for Cuba, though: they've lost all five of their Gold Cup meetings with USA. Clint Dempsey has netted twice against the Cubans, and with three under his belt in the competition thus far, you wouldn't back against him adding to his haul.
Technically, we're only two minutes away from kickoff, but games in North America seldom kick off on time. We could be here a while longer before we get the show on the road.
Right, both sets of players are lining up in the tunnel ready to enter the field. Kyle Beckerman, with those wonderful dreadlocks, rallies the troops with a 'C'MON BOYS'.
Incidentally, the winner of this will square off with Haiti or Jamaica in the semi-finals, with those two poised to face off a little later. Here come the anthems.
Brad Guzan is one of two players to start all four of USA's Gold Cup games. He's come a long way since playing the banjo on porch swings.
Michael Bradley is the other player. He's a fantastic talent, isn't he? He'll cause Cuba all sorts of problems in midfield tonight if they let him.
KICKOFF! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're off in Baltimore. USA, draped in white, get us underway. Excited? Me too.
Some promising early signs from Cuba. Centre-half Ventura Alvarado cheaply loses possession in his own half, with Alberto Gomez pouncing on the error and driving at goal. He looked to play an over-the-top ball for Maykel Reyes, but the pass had a bit too much pace on it and Guzan collected.
GOAL! United States 1-0 Cuba (Clint Dempsey)
That didn't take long, did it? Timothy Chandler floats a wonderful ball into the box from right-back, and Dempsey, completely unmarked, has the simple task of heading past Disovelis Guerra from close range. We're in an NFL stadium and we may just see an NFL score. Woeful defending from Cuba there.
That was Dempsey's fourth goal of the competition thus far. He has a big chance to stake a bigger claim for the Golden Boot here because, well, there's no telling how many he could end up with. Cuba aren't organised, and you need only have seen the way in which Dempsey was completely unmarked after four minutes to know that.
CHANCE! Oh my. What a brilliant cross-field ball this is from Beckerman, who finds Bedoya. The winger passes into the box for Dempsey, but the defender recovers well to snuff out the chance before Dempsey can get clean contact on the first-time shot. That ball from Beckerman. Top drawer.
Is this Barcelona or USA? I can't tell. Aron Johansson plays a beautiful lofted ball over the top of Bradley, whose control lets him down and the chance is gone. They're playing well, but we need to take into consideration the calibre of opposition. Cuba aren't up to much.
GOAL! USA 2-0 Cuba (Gyasi Zardes)
This is too easy. Bedoya's wonderful cross is tapped home by Zardes, who got the run on his marker with a simple finish. So that's why they were 33/1. Two goals and on both occasions Cuba's marking was in question.
To their credit, Cuba have found themselves in a few decent positions, but the end product is severely lacking. Still, don't rule out a goal at one point because they've got plenty of speed.
Anybody seen Cuba's right-back? It genuinely doesn't appear as if they've got one. Fabian Johnson and Alexander Bedoya have both been afforded acres of space on USA's left flank and it's where the second goal stemmed from. It seems like they're playing four centre-halves instead of two and two full-backs. Bizarre.
The lads use a break in play to quench a bit of thirst. It's 31 degrees celcuis in Baltimore so, you know, the conditions aren't ideal to be running around.
The crowd sing God Bless America in unison. They're a passionate bunch, but on the field, the USA players aren't singing from the same hymn sheet any longer. They've unleashed the party tricks and it's a bit earlier in the day for them.
SHOT! We've just seen Cuba's first shot, and it's from Daniel Ernesto Luis Saez, but he screws it narrowly wide of Brad Guzan's post. He had it covered regardless.
USA were queing up to add a third there, but nobody wanted to take the shot. Zardes finally did, but it was blocked instantly.
GOAL! USA 3-0 Cuba (Aron Johansson)
What a goal this is. Take a bow Mr Johansson, who latches on to Michael Bradley's deft over-the-top ball to beat the offside trap, before nonchalantly lobbing Guerra alas Dennis Bergkamp. Fine finish.
PENALTY APPEAL: Johansson goes to ground under a reckless challenge from Andy Ruiz. The referee looked set to award the spot-kick, but he told Johansson to get up instead. In his defence, replays show that it was a brilliant decision. The officiating has come under scrutiny in the competition, but that was spot-on. Pun intended.
Fabian Johnson is the image of Giorgio Chiellini, isn't he? I think so. Anywho, the left-back is probably having the easiest game of his life tonight. Cuba's right side is virtually non-existent.
CHANCE! Oh lord it could, and should, be 3-1 folks. Corrales pulls the ball back, with two red shirts waiting to hit it first time, but Reyes tries to turn and shoot. Inevitably, his shot is weak and rolls into the arms of Guzan. Poor finish. You can see why this mob have only scored once in the competition so far.
CHANCE! Zardes needs to read Lobbing 101 by Aron Johansson. The LA Galaxy winger has tried to emulate his teammate's magic of earlier, and there's plenty of cause to do so, but the execution was all off and it goes over. Dempsey, who was unmarked in the middle, was furious. Rightly so.
GOAL! USA 4-0 Cuba (Omar Gonzalez)
Oh dear. The Cuba goalkeeper makes Manuel Almunia look like Peter Schmeichel. He's after coming well off his line to claim a corner that he was never, ever, ever getting, and defender Gonzalez slides home a fourth. That's that.
TWO MINUTES ADDED ON:
HALF TIME: United States 4-0 Cuba
Well, that was fairly easy, wasn't it? USA have barely broken sweat, cruising into a 4-0 lead courtesy of goals from Dempsey, Zardes, Gonzalez and a cracking lob by Johansson. I think it's safe to say they're in the semi-finals. Let's not beat around the bush and pretend Cuba can turn it around. Let's be realistic.
Looks like we're going to see a few subs. But first, recap some of the goals:
This finish though:
RESTART! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back underway. Can Cuba do anything to turn this around? Picture Austin Powers stuck in a narrow corridor on that motorised cart. Turning this around just isn't an option for Cuba.
SUBSTITUTIONS:

SHOT! Michael Bradley, who has deserved a goal tonight, looks to add a fifth from a free kick but his effort sails well over the bar.
CLOSE! The onslaught from the first half doesn't look like subsiding and Dempsey almost adds a fifth. The keeper is in no mans land from a corner again, drifting well off his line, but he does save from Dempsey to be fair.
It's only a matter of time before we see a fifth goal. The Cuban lads are fresh out of ideas at the moment, and the longer this one goes, the harder it'll be to keep the scoreline down.
CUBA SUB: The visitors make their first sub as Armando Coroneaux replaces Liban Perez.
SAVE! I think this is Disovelis Guerra's first real save of the match, and it's a decent one. Bradley bursts on to Zardes's layoff before striking at goal, but the Cuba stopper saves with his legs. Well done.
BOOKING: We've seen the first booking now as Yeisnier Napolés receives a yellow card for going through the back of Corona. Deserved. No complaints from the defender.
Could this be one of those games where we see a team dominate in the first half and then fail to score in the second half? At the moment, it's looking like it.
Penalty to USA!
GOAL! USA 5-0 Cuba (Demspey penalty)
Superb peno from the ex-Spurs man, who trickles it down the middle to add a fifth goal - and his fifth of the competition. The spot-kick was awarded when Johansson was dragged down in the area by Arturo Adrián Diz Pe I think.
SHOT! Good work from Maykel Reyes, but his final effort is attrocious; kinda like a shank in golf. He tried to put too much power into it and the ball flew off to the right. Excellent skill in the build-up, though.
DeAndre Yedlin enters for Fabian Johnson, while Yasmani Lopez replaces Dani Luis for Cuba.
CHANCE! They're trying to be a little too cute now in front of goal. Johansson barges his way through on goal but, instead of shooting, cuts back for Bradley, who probably wouldn't even have shot if he had the chance, before a defender dispossessed him. You wouldn't want to play this USA team in darts. They'd be walking up to the oche before giving the darts to their teammate all night.
SUB: Cuba make their third and final change as Felix Guerra replaces Alberto Gomez. 15 minutes to go, but really, this one has been over for Cuba since, say, the first four minutes.
GOAL! USA 6-0 Cuba (Dempsey hat-trick)
Dempsey nets his hat-trick, latching on to Michael Bradley's unselfish cut-back to slide home a sixth - and his sixth of the competition. Take a bow. We said he could grab himself a few tonight and that's been proven here. Fair play.
Cuba look dejected. Understandably. Clint Dempsey will get the plaudits and the headlines, but Michael Bradley has been the man behind the magic. He's been superb all night and bagged two excellent assists for his efforts.
They're just going through the motions now. Both teams. Cuba can't wait for the final whistle, while USA look just about spent too!
Two minutes left. I can't imagine there'll be much added time, due to the heat and the scoreline.
TWO MINUTES ADDED ON:
FULL TIME: United States 6-0 Cuba
That was fairly easy, eh? Clint Dempsey nets three as USA beat Cuba 6-0 to advance into the Gold Cup semis. As we said in commentary, Dempsey gets the plaudits, but Michael Bradley was brilliant throughout. That was just what USA needed, after the pre-tournament favourites endured an underwhelming start. Now it's a case of watch out!
Anywho, thanks for joining our live commentary. Hopefully you've enjoyed it and we'll see you next time. Until then, stay classy folks.

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