There was audible relief at Keyworth Stadium last Saturday. DCFC’s long winless run finally came to an end. Coach Danny Dichio has tried a different combination of players in every game since the last win in April. Maybe it was the right configuration, maybe the right opponent, or perhaps even the weather played its part, but this team needed a win in any way possible.
The weather certainly played a key part. It wasn’t the heat, although the temperature rose above 90 degrees. The wind pushed DCFC forward during a torrid first half. With a powerful gale blowing from south to north, Le Rouge played with the wind from the start. They immediately pressed visiting Miami, rarely letting them out of their half of the field. Dichio must have been a little disappointed that his team only had one goal going into the halftime break.
DCFC created enough opportunities to be further ahead. They kept good possession and benefitted from the return of Abdoulaye Diop to the starting lineup for the first time in 2025. He and Ryan Williams dictated much of the rhythm of the game. They were able to find Jeciel Cedeno in good positions behind Miami’s midfielders. However, it took a poor clearance to set up the first goal. A Miami defender tried to clear the ball high into the air. The wind held it up and dropped it at Cedeno’s foot. He played a quick one-two with Darrin Smith and placed the ball in the side-netting to the right of former US international Bill Hamid. Cedeno’s explosive run and finish set off the 6,004 fans in Keyworth in an explosion of relief, accompanied by the recently underused smoke bombs and colorful insults from the East Stand.
Cedeno could have doubled the lead early in the second half when set up by Connor Rutz, but the pass came to his weaker right foot and his shot went high and wide. Darrin Smith had his chance to extend the lead when Cedeno was fouled in the Miami penalty area, but his penalty went straight at Hamid’s legs and bounced away. Substitute Ates Diouf finally sealed the win with the last kick of the game. He received a long pass and took his defender on parallel to the goal line. After beating two men, he put the ball around Hamid for the second goal. The team reacted even more emotionally to that goal, realizing that their long struggle had finally ended.
While the attack created plenty of chances, it was at the back where DCFC finally saw things hold together. Carlos Herrera returned to the goal and made a number of key saves. Two that he made with his feet during the second half preserved DCFC’s slender one goal lead. Defender Shane Wiedt saved a shot off the goal line with his head when a Miami player clattered into Herrera and the referee inexplicably allowed play to continue.
Having finally picked up a win in the league, DCFC has two games this week. The first will be a friendly against Santos Laguna of Liga MX. Santos finished rock bottom of both the Apertura and Clausura in 2024-2025. This match will be part of their preseason preparations for the new season which starts the weekend of July 11. Santos opens at home against Pumas on the twelfth. On Saturday, DCFC will be on the road against Hartford Athletic in the Jagermeister League Cup. To have any hope of advancing, DCFC must with this game and then beat Westchester SC of USL League One at the end of July. Expect Dichio to rest a lot of regular players in midweek and give some playing time to players needing minutes.
USA Moves On to the Quarterfinals
DCFC wasn’t the only team in desperate need of positive results. The US national team entered the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a four game losing streak. Included in those four games were some of the worst performances in recent times. For the Gold Cup, many of the USA’s regular starters could not be selected. Some are busy with the FIFA Club World Cup. Others have injuries. A couple just decided they needed a vacation.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino had to come up with a solid spine for his team and then put a number of inexperienced, mostly MLS, players around it. His first move was to bench goalkeeper Matt Turner. The nominal starting goalkeeper only played four competitive games during the European season and looked shaky in his recent international appearances. Instead, New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese started the USA’s three group matches and only had one glaring error, a poor clearance last Sunday that Haiti turned into the only goal the USA conceded in the group phase. The Americans finished with three wins from three games in one of the weakest possible groups.
The spine has become Freese in goal, central defenders Chris Richards and Tim Ream, defensive midfielder Tyler Adams, attacking midfielder Malik Tillman, and striker Patrick Agyemang. Richards in particular had a superb group phase, scoring the winner against Saudi Arabia and winning all his duels. Agyemang and Tillman have provided goals and had enough chances between them to double the five they did score. Winger Diego Luna and right back Alex Freeman have also done enough to earn starts in the elimination rounds.
On Sunday night, the USA will meet Costa Rica in Minneapolis. It will be a reunion with one of the USA’s toughest opponents: goalkeeper Keylor Navas. The Costa Rican legend canceled his international retirement for the Gold Cup. The USA has only beaten him twice during his long career. Even if Costa Rica is a long way from its best, they will give the Americans a much tougher game that any of their group phase opponents.
CONCACAF narrowly avoided having the USA and Mexico meet in a quarterfinal for the first time ever. Mexico could only draw with Costa Rica in their group A decider. Mexico’s superior goal difference means they won the group and will meet guest team Saudi Arabia in Glendale, Arizona on Saturday night. The Mexicans have hardly been convincing. The barely held off the Dominican Republic and had a tough time with Suriname. Like the USA, they will have to lift their game. Canada, the third World Cup host, lead their group after routing Honduras 6-0, but drawing Curacao 1-1. Panama is the other top seed and has two wins from two games with a weak Jamaican team remaining to play in their final group game. This tournament will become more intense in the quarterfinals over the weekend.
