Sporting Kansas City midfielder Gianluca Busio logged the full 90 minutes for the United States Men's National Team in a gritty 1-0 win over Jamaica to progress to the semifinals of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Making his fourth straight tournament appearance and his third consecutive start for the U.S. MNT, Busio helped the Americans to victory in a quarterfinal clash decided by Matthew Hoppe's first career U.S. goal in the 83rd minute.
Busio, a 19-year-old Sporting KC Academy product, won 10 of 14 ground duels, had seven tackles and completed 47 passes as part of a well-rounded performance at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
With Sunday's triumph in the books, the U.S. MNT will now begin preparations for an all-important semifinal clash against Qatar at 6:30 p.m. CT Thursday at the new Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas. The match will be shown live nationally in English on FS1 and the FOX Sports app and in Spanish on Univision, TUDN and the TUDN app.
Busio, who was named to the U.S. MNT for the first time earlier this month, previously appeared in all three group stage matches for the Americans at Children's Mercy Park from July 11-18, including starts in wins over Martinique and Canada. Sunday marked the first time Busio has played the full 90 minutes at the senior international level.
Held every two years, the Gold Cup is the regional championship for Concacaf and just like in the European Championships and Copa America, lifting the trophy brings prestige and regional supremacy.
Over the course of 15 previous Gold Cup tournaments, the United States has lifted the trophy six times (1991, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2017), just behind all-time leaders Mexico with eight (1993, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019). Canada is the only other tournament champion, coming away with the title in 2000.
