AUSTIN — When the Concacaf Gold Cup started this month, there were legitimate questions about whether U.S. Coach Gregg Berhalter had employed enough experience and talent to even reach the final.
In leaving behind top players, Berhalter aimed to evaluate second- and third-choice figures before 2022 World Cup qualifiers started in September.
Along the course of the tournament, however, Berhalter not only learned about his young squad but watched it provide late-game heroics in consecutive knockout-round matches four days apart to advance to Sunday’s championship match in Las Vegas.
After ousting Jamaica with an 83rd-minute goal, the Americans on Thursday defeated Asian champion Qatar, 1-0, on Gyasi Zardes’s sliding effort in the 86th at Q2 Stadium.