It's been an eventful summer for the U.S. men's national team. Things got off to a rocky start, with a squad short of several starters and disappointing friendly defeats to Turkey and Switzerland.
When the matches counted, though, Mauricio Pochettino & Co. rebounded nicely. The USMNT was perfect in the Gold Cup group stage, gutted out knockout-round wins over Costa Rica and Guatemala, before delivering an admirable, gritty performance -- considering the youth and inexperience of its squad -- in the narrow 2-1 final defeat to Mexico.