All right, everybody, welcome to a quick take hot take episode of The Total Soccer Show.

My name is Taylor Rockwell. I'm joined by Joe Lowry this evening to talk about the USA's 4-2 win over Jamaica in the Concaf Nations League. I got it all in in one breath, Joe. I am so proud of you, Taylor, and I felt like, you know, after giving it some real thought, we just did one of these quick take, hot take shows on Thursday, whatever day that was. I felt like upon review that I wasn't as hot on the hot takes as I should have been, and I feel like we kind of got to that at the end, I'll drop a hot take. If the U.S. plays Jamaica and St. Louis all the way through the 2026 World Cup, they've got a really good shot at the World Cup final. But only if the first half counts, then I'll feel even better about that one.

The second half maybe slightly less.

Joe, that is kind of where I wanted to start with this one, because the U.S. does obviously

get the win.

And it's maybe the most impressive I've seen them look in quite some time.

I think it was slightly damning with faint praise from the commentators to say, like,

this is the best they've looked under Mauricio Pachitino, a very small sample size. I think they also acknowledged. What would you give as a letter grade for the first half? I thought the first half was an A-plus. I mean, the U.S., I think they only ended up with something like 0.9xG, even for their three goals in the first half, which I think is about right. Pepe's goal is a really difficult chance. Polisic's goal is a wicked deflection, the second one anyway. The first one is a slightly higher quality chance, but even that one's not like a gimmee. It's not like the U.S. found just shot on the doorstep after shot on the doorstep. Man, were they moving the ball around. And man, did they give Jamaica nothing in that first half as well? They were completely airtight.

Jamaica, I think, had three shots in the first half, but none of them gave Matt Turner any trouble whatsoever. So the defensive work was like a massive A plus. And there's a reason why we take single game XG with like a light truckload of salt, maybe like a four fusions worth of salt,

however much salt you can fit in a four fusion. It's because it doesn't account for all of the moments where you get into dangerous areas and you just don't quite get that final shot.

And the U.S. it felt to me, Taylor, like they had a ton of those incredible opportunities

that didn't quite turn into something,

or at least they were constantly probing dangerous areas, some really fun tactical wrinkles in

this game that I didn't expect at all from Maricio Pocitino, some really, really free-flowing,

dominant stuff from the United States in the first half, more dominant and better ball on the

whole than I have seen the U.S. play, not just under Pachitino, but in a really, really long time caveats that it's Jamaica at home, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, Jamaica at home having sent home, what, two, three players? Probably they're two best players at McEl Antonio and Ethan Pinnock, yeah. Yeah, confused as to McEl Antonio being sent home. He's suspended for the first game. We assumed he'd be fully rested and ready to go in this one. Instead, it's Shamar Nicholson again. Yeah, it seemed like a passport problem. The reporting was that he forgot his passport. That feels like something that you say maybe when you don't forget your passport and something else happens. But also, who knows? We could take it to face value and maybe the- Did you forget a passport flying to Jamaica? Because that's going to be hard getting home, I got to say.

Yeah. else happens, but also, who knows? We could take it to face value and maybe the... Did you forget his passport flying to Jamaica?

Because that's going to be hard getting home, I got to say.

Yeah, I don't know.

Not sure.

That's why it seems weird.

All right.

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