2023 Gold Cup Group A Primer, TV Schedule - Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, United States

The 2023 Nations League champions look to another reserve squad to retain their Gold Cup crown, and the USMNT gets its toughest test in the opener against Jamaica.

Photo Courtesy of U.S. Soccer

The United States Men’s National Team begins their Gold Cup defense tonight against Jamaica in Group A as CONCACAF’s regional tournament begins again.

It’s a similar roster style that the USA had two years ago - MLS heavy and full of younger, emerging players. But unlike the 2021 edition where Gregg Berhalter tried and failed repeatedly to put square players in the round 4-3-3 hole, the U.S. will be led by interim coach BJ Callaghan which offers a much more unique and potentially very diverse setup tactically.

Seeing the USMNT deploy or finish a game with a 5-man backline as well as several different midfield variations are entirely possible here, which should mean a drastic difference in play than the stubborn, slow, play out of the back system that was only threatening on set pieces two years ago. I am genuinely excited to see the USA setup tonight…perhaps less so a few months from now at a friendly in East Hartford.

But enough of that, tonight the U.S. needs a tone-setting performance and they’ll have to do it against a stubborn Jamaica team and regional nemesis Andre Blake who as always is here to remind you that the more you insult Connecticut, the better he plays.

As always we’ll have group primers, recaps, thoughts and as much coverage as we can muster throughout the 2023 Gold Cup so do check in often.

TV SCHEDULE (all times US Eastern, games on FS1, Univision, TUDN)

June 24: United States vs Jamaica – Soldier Field, Chicago, IL, 9:30 p.m.

June 25: Trinidad and Tobago vs Saint Kitts and Nevis – DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 3:30 p.m.

June 28: Jamaica vs Trinidad and Tobago – CITYPARK, St. Louis, MO, 7:30 p.m.

June 28: Saint Kitts and Nevis vs United States – CITYPARK, St. Louis, MO, 9:30 p.m.

July 2: United States vs Trinidad and Tobago – Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC, 7 p.m.

July 2: Jamaica vs Saint Kitts and Nevis – Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA, 7 p.m.

JAMAICA [JAM/A2] 

Head Coach: Heimir Hallgrimsson (ISL) 

FIFA Ranking: 63 Nickname: Reggae Boyz  

Qualification: CNL A Flight, Group A Runners-up 

Appearance: 13th / Best Finish: Runners-up (2015, 2017) 

Roster Breakdown: 7 USA/Canada (MLS/USL), 13 England/Wales, 1 Russia, 1 Ukraine, 1 Domestic 

Recent Matches: L vs Jordan 2-1, L vs Qatar 2-1 (both friendlies played in Austria) 

Player To Know: GK Andre Blake, Philadelphia Union (USA/MLS), 64 Int’l Caps 

Player To Watch: FW Shamar Nicholson, Spartak Moscow, 33 Int’l Caps / 10 Int’l Goals 

Of course we’re going to mention the UConn Huskies legend and netminder Blake, but Nicholson is a name that was a breakout player for Jamaica a few years ago and netted a PK goal in the friendly loss against Qatar. If the Reggae Boys are going to have the potential to make a deep run, they’re going to need their forward corps to really capitalize on all opportunities. They went 2-for-2 from the spot in their recent friendlies (Corey Burke netted against Jordan) but from open play it seems like it’s been a struggle in recent months. 

Tournament Outlook 

We know that Jamaica has some legitimate talent from the other side of the pond – Leon Bailey, Michail Antonio, Bobby Decordova-Reid – but it’s hasn’t come together for the Reggae Boys in recent years. They had a chance to overtake a mediocre Mexico side in their Nations League group but dropped points away to Suriname on the opening fixture despite drawing El Tri twice. In the last year and a half to the start of 2022, Jamaica only has two wins – at home to Honduras in WCQ and home to Suriname in the CNL. They can make the knockouts but until they find some consistency it’s hard to give them anything other than darkhorse status at this point. 

Ryan Spaulding Returned to New England With Increased Confidence

SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS [SKN/A4] 

Head Coach: Austin Huggins (SKN) 

FIFA Ranking: 139 Nickname: The Sugar Boyz 

Qualification: CNL C Flight Group B Winners, Gold Cup Prelims: PK W vs Curacao 1-1 (3-2), PK W vs French Guiana 1-1 (4-2) 

Appearance: Debut / Best Finish: N/A 

Roster Breakdown: 8 Domestic, 8 England/Wales, 3 USA (USL 1&2/NCAA), 1 Spain, 1 Unattached 

Recent Matches: CNL W 3-1 at Saint Martin, W vs Aruba 2-0 

Player To Know: DEF Gerard Williams, Unattached, 76 Int’l Caps / 2 Goals 

Player To Watch: MID Romaine Sawyers, Cardiff City (WAL), 32 Int’l Caps / 6 Goals 

Only true CONCACAF sickos will know of Williams from his decade-long stint with T&T side W Connection from 2009-2018, but aside from captain and keeper Julani Archibald (49 caps) there’s no one on the current roster close to the SKN caps leader. 

Sawyers is a legit player starting almost every game with Championship side Cardiff this year who just held off relegation into the third tier. If you’re looking for a youngster to keep an eye on it was 21-year-old domestic player Tiquanny Williams’ first international goal that put them ahead of French Guiana in the penultimate prelim match. 

Tournament Outlook 

I am not saying that St Kitts and Nevis is going to advance into the knockouts...but I am saying that they do have an ideal setup for it in that they play a T&T side that has been rather dismal in recent regional play. If they can win that game, then all they might need is a point somewhere else along the line. Could they get blown out in all three games? Of course, but we’ve seen moments of magic from these just happy to be here Caribbean sides before and I think SKN will provide us with a few of those in this tournament. 

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO [TRI/A3] 

Head Coach: Former Joe Public midfielder and T&T Int’l caps leader Angus Eve (TRI) 

FIFA Ranking: 104 Nickname: The Soca Warriors 

Qualification: CNL B Flight Group C Runners-up* (replaced Nicaragua following their disqualification for use of ineligible player) 

Appearance: 12th / Best Finish: Semifinals (2000)  

Roster Breakdown: 6 Domestic, 9 USA (MLS/USL/NextPro), 2 Canada (CPL), 1 Belgium, 1 Scotland, 1 Norway, 1 Finland, 1 Greece, 1 Ecuador 

Recent Matches: Friendly 1-0 W vs Guatemala (Chester, PA); CNL 1-1 D vs Nicaragua, 3-0 W at Bahamas 

Players To Know: MID Kevin Molino (CLB Crew/MLS) and DEF Joevin Jones (Police/TRI) 

Player To Watch: DEF Triston Hodge, Hartford Athletic (USA/USL), 25 Int’l caps 

The old guard of the MLS mainstays are still around and still T&T’s best bet for leading the charge going forward. There’s not a lot of goals on this roster, but if you’re looking for a breakout player, forward Levi Garcia of Greek side AEK Athens scored five goals internationally in 2022. Obviously, we’re stoked for the local dude Hodge getting the call as well. 

Tournament Outlook 

I don’t think it’s unfair to say that The Soca Warriors should be better than a CONCACAF Nations League yo-yo team between the A and B Flights but were it not for shenanigans from the Nicaragua federation, T&T would’ve had to go through the prelim qualifiers. The haven’t won a game at the Gold Cup since 2015 going winless in the two of three tournaments they did qualify for and haven’t won a knockout game since 2000. Hopefully they will put up a better showing than the 6-0 pasting the USMNT gave them in the 2019 edition but if the Reggae Boyz show up I don’t see them getting out of the group and at best maybe they can steal second on goal difference. 

UNITED STATES [USA/A1] 

Interim Head Coach: BJ Callaghan (USA) 

FIFA Ranking: 13 Nickname: The Yanks 

Qualification: CNL A Flight Group D Winners 

Appearance: 17th / Best Finish: Champions (7 Times)  

Roster Breakdown: 16 MLS, 2 England, 2 Mexico, 1 Italy, 1 Belgium, 1 Netherlands 

Recent Matches: CNL Semifinal 3-0 W vs Mexico, CNL Final 2-0 W vs Canada 

Players To Know: GK Matt Turner (Arsenal, ENG) and DEF DeJuan Jones (NE Revolution, MLS/USA) 

Obviously we here at TBM stan our New Englanders and in particular Jones for a serious look at minutes with the senior team. It also wouldn’t shock me to see the USMNT rotate their keepers in the group stage to give Sean Johnson and Gaga Slonina a run out if the U.S. does well in the opener and aren’t under the amount of pressure they were two years ago. That said Turner does need all the game minutes he can get if he’s not going to get any with Arsenal in the EPL. 

Players To Watch: Yes, just yes. There’s a lot of intriguing names here from Djordje Mihailovic and Alejandro Zendejas in the midfield to where ever Julian Gressel and James Sands might play and then super youngster defenders Jalen Neal and John Tolkin. Yes, this is another B team but I am more intrigued about this squad than the 2021 team that struggled to play Berhalter ball on its way to a title.  

Tournament Outlook 

The question here is how does the U.S. formulate a strategy out of midfield for this tournament. In 2021 they won it on set pieces and Matt Turner being a literal god. There’s some interesting utility pieces here with Sands and Gressel among others that could see the US start or end with five at the back but I think there needs to be at least one #6/anchor type in the formation, either Sands on his own at the bottom of a midfield trio or with a partner in a 4-2-3-1, to help out the workhorses that will feature out wide. A breakout tour for Brandon Vazquez or a rebound tournament for Jesus Ferreira would be nice too. A trip back to another final is expected as always with CONCACAF play. 

GROUP OVERVIEW

Both the USA and Jamaica are a significant step above the other two teams and Jamaica had their three-tourney semifinalist streak snapped by the U.S. two years ago so they have the pedigree to go beyond getting out of the group. The darlings however will be Saint Kitts who I hope will ride their prelim form as high and far as they can even if that means an epic wipeout is forthcoming. Enjoy your Gold Cup debuts Sugar Boyz and have a blast. Yes this group should go chalk, but it’ll be a very fun and entertaining group while getting to the expected results.

PREDICTIONS

USA / Jamaica / Trinidad / St Kitts