David Butler II-USA Today Sports
After coasting to victory over both Belize and Cuba in 2013 Gold Cup group play, the US Men’s National Team faced their first true Gold Cup test against Costa Rica. If you remember back to 2014 World Cup Qualifying in March, United States and Costa Rica faced-off in blizzard like conditions.
Fast forward to July and the 2013 Gold Cup, and both teams faced-off again this time, however, this times there was no snow and the mercury was pushing well into 90′s. While the weather and venue were different, the result ended the same- the United States defeated Costa Rica 1-0.
With the victory, the United States confidently won 2013 Gold Cup Group C with a perfect nine points and now advances to face El Salvador in the quarterfinals. Also, the United States won their eighth straight game for the first time ever. The last time USMNT won seven-straight was back in 2007
Kerith Gabriel put USMNT’s historic feat in perspective.
Final in Hartford: U.S. 1, Costa Rica 0. @ussoccer enjoys its first eight-game win streak in federation history. It took 100 years.
— Kerith Gabriel (@sprtswtr) July 17, 2013
Since the 2013 MLB All-Star Game also occurred Wednesday, let me throw another historic statistic at you courtesy of Paul Carr. In two other occurrences, 1995 and 2005, that the U.S. Men’s National Team played on the same day as the MLB All-Star Game, they failed to score a goal. Yet, that changed today thanks to Brek Shea‘s first international goal.
Klinsmann promised to go with his best lineup Wednesday, and it came out with a historic victory. The United States have won eight straight for the first time ever, scored their first goal on the same day as the MLB All-Star Game, and Shea scored his first international goal.
It’s looking up as the United States continues on in 2013 Gold Cup competition.
