Beat three-time World Cup finalist Netherlands: Check. Beat four-time World Cup winner Germany: check. The Gold Cup? We’ll see.
Right now the men’s national football team of the United States — USMNT — is on a roll after recording two thrilling wins over European powerhouses the Netherlands and world champion Germany.
And if the USMNT is on a roll, then how best to describe how Bobby Wood must be feeling at the end of the team’s European tour?
If notching the match-winning goal in a dramatic 4-3 comeback win against the Netherlands on Friday wasn’t enough, he followed it up with another against Germany in Cologne Wednesday.
The 22-year-old, most recently found plying his trade at German third division team Erzgebirge Aue, had played only six times prior to the two friendlies and had yet to score an international goal.
USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann, a former German international, had previously seen his team endure a torrid run of form, winning just twice in 12 matches — losing six of them.
But just as some were calling for his head, and seemingly from nowhere, the team has produced two jaw-dropping performances, without several big-name players, to back up March’s 2-0 win over bitter rival Mexico.
The upturn in form comes just in the nick of time as the team prepares for the Gold Cup that kicks off on July 7 in the U.S. and Canada.
Expectations are high as the USMNT head into the tournament as holder.
Fierce rival Mexico heads into the competition with its team weakened by having to split its players between both the Gold Cup and the Copa America — South America’s equivalent tournament.
On top of the USMNT’s recent success, the women’s national team, U-20s and U-23s all recorded wins in their respective matches, capping off an outstanding week for U.S. soccer.