That was easy and not-even-remotely stressful, right? The USMNT showed simultaneously just how good and bad they can be over 90 minutes and penalties Sunday night. They gave away two awfully soft goals, scored two pretty good ones, and twice had a chance to win a penalty shootout before throwing it away.
In the end, they survived and advanced, and they have a guy in goal who went to Harvard to thank.
The good news is that they're in the the Gold Cup semifinals for a record 17th time. And let's face it, tournament play is about riding your fortune, putting in a few good performances, and seeing where you go from there.
Mauricio Pochettino's side might have been handed another lifeline in Guatemala's win over Canada. Jesse Marsch's men crumbled after being shown a first-half red card, and deserved no less than their penalty defeat. It's a bad look for the manager, who spoke so often about his desire to take Canada all the way.
Meanwhile, Mexico got the job done. They didn't exactly look flashy against Saudi Arabia, but it's hard to argue with the result. There's now the real potential for a USMNT-Mexico final (which might be what we all wanted anyway). But are there any further twists to come? And are Mexico now the favorites, period?
GOAL US writers debate it all in the latest edition of... The Rondo.