Qatar vs USA: The Qataris deserve to reach the finals

For the first time ever, the teams of Qatar and USA will battle in the semi-finals of the Golden Cup. The USA team has not made a single mistake in the course of the tournament, and taking this into account, should we expect another victory from them in regulation time?

The debut of the Qatar national team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup is going well so far, and its entry into the semifinals of the should not be surprising.  Even before the start of the tournament, the team showed a very good performance, especially in the attack. As for their game in the tournament, Already directly in the United States, the Qataris have not lost a single match, having won 3 out of 4 matches.  The level of the teams is gradually increasing, and the bringing of football players and coaches from abroad is bearing fruit. Those who have experience of playing abroad have a key role in the attack.  Ali Almoez scored 4 goals at the Gold Cup, while Akram Afif scored 2 goals and gave 2 assists. Also, there were three goals scored are Al-Rayan midfielder Abdulaziz Hatim.

The Qataris started the tournament with a 3-3 draw against Panama, then they defeated Grenada (4-0), Honduras (2-0), and El Salvador (3-2). Against Honduras, Felix Sanchez's charges did not take any chances, and in the game with El Salvador, they brought problems to themselves. By the 55th minute, the Qatari national team was beating the Salvadorans 3-0, once again wasting a lot of opportunities. After that, the opponent their gap to a minimum, and in the end almost tied in goals. The goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham neutralized a one-on-one. Ali Al Moyes was the hero of this match, scoring two goals.

The U.S. team actually brought the secondary lineup to the Gold Cup, but even so, they are moving confidently enough in the standings. In the absence of Pulisic, McKenney, Steffen, Palmer-Brown, Adams, and others, the Americans won all four matches at the tournament, thanks to which they advanced to the semifinals. Virtually the entire team is made up of players from MLS. The U.S. team doesn't really play with much better performance than its counterparts, but they convert their chances into goals more effectively. The team's leading scorer at this year's tournament is young Orlando forward Daryl Dyke: he scored twice against Martinique. Matthew Hoppe and Gyasi Zardes each had 2 points on goal+passes.

After the victories over Haiti (1-0), Martinique (6-1), and Canada (1-0) in the group stage, Gregg Berhalter's wards defeated Jamaica 1-0 in the quarterfinals. The USA had the initiative the whole game but had few real dangerous chances. Two-thirds of the game time, the Americans possessed the ball and 11 had made shots on goal. Only in the 83rd minute, Hoppe headed a cross into the penalty area for the decisive goal. The same Hoppe and Arriola could have scored earlier but shot from good positions right into the goalkeeper. There were few rough mistakes in defense, and more often than not the opponents had to shoot from afar.

Qatar is one of the best teams in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and they deserve to reach the final. The winner of last year's Asian Cup looks very good in attack but sometimes mistakes in defense ruin everything. This happened in a draw against Panama when Felix Sanchez's team took the lead three times. The U.S. team is quite confident in defense, but its winning streak is still questionable. In the game with Canada after the goal in the 20th second the Americans created nothing upfront and allowed their opponent a lot. Yes, the hosts of the tournament are considered the favorites for the match, but on the whole, both teams perform almost equally. I suggest betting on the following outcomes:

• Tie for 3.50;
• Qatar to win for 3.75;
• Both teams will score for 1.727.