Soldier Field was the scene where the 2023 edition of the Gold Cup saw the hostilities of the tournament inaugurate, with the first match of Group A between the teams of the United States and Jamaica.
The team of the emerging BJ Callaghan faced his first commitment with a team full of young people against a Jamaican team with a lot of weight and trade, so much so that there are those who place him in the fight for the trophy in this edition.
It was the Caribbean who struck first at minute 13 through Damian Lowe who beat goalkeeper Matt Turner with a showy shot from Demarai Gray’s set piece service.
The ‘Reggae Boys’ had the valuable opportunity to increase the lead at minute 29′ when Leon Bailey took a penalty marked by the Mexican referee César Arturo Ramos Palazuelos. Bailey tossed it hard but telegraphed to the left side of Turner, who deflected the ball at the feet of the Jamaican who unbelievably flicked the counter shot aside with the door all but open.
For their part, the United States also had a great opportunity a few minutes after the end of the first half through Jordan Morris, but the ball went past goalkeeper Andre Blake’s post.
In the complement, the USMNT had several opportunities to equalize, but could not overcome the hard approach in the midfield of the Jamaicans
The figure of goalkeeper Blake began to grow after stopping the penalty in the first half, and with a great save at 70′ he took away Cristian Roldán’s chance to equalize.
However, so much was the pitch into the water, that Brandon Vázquez made the long-awaited equalizer at 87′ from time with a powerful shot from the center of the area that this time Blake could not stop.