The day before taking on Jamaica in the 2017 Gold Cup final, U.S. defender Omar Gonzalez firmly put things into perspective.

Just how deep is the competition at centerback on the current U.S. team? Three winners of the MLS Defender of the Year Award -- Omar Gonzalez (2011), Matt Besler (2012) and Matt Hedges (2016) -- are competing for Gold Cup playing time.

The youngest and the oldest players on the U.S. national team - and the head coach -- speak very similarly about captain Michael Bradley, who on Wednesday aims to lead the USA to the 2017 Gold Cup title.

The Deuce lived up to his name Saturday. After the entrance of substitute Clint Dempsey, the Americans scored twice on his assist and goal to defeat Costa Rica, 2-0, to reach its 10th Gold Cup final.

The list of All-Stars was released by MLS on Tuesday and amid the controversy of who got picked and who didn't, here's a personal selection of the 11 most deserving players of the 2017 season to date.

The six players called by Bruce Arena for the Gold Cup quarterfinals and beyond were not surprises but a few of those sent home did raise eyebrows.

What was the most pathetic moment for the USA in its Gold Cup game on Wednesday? There were a few to choose from.

An amazing turnaround in Chicago has the Fire challenging for the Eastern Conference title and Supporters' Shield, as well as individual honors. Striker Nemanja Nikolic and head coach Veljko Paunovic join the races that have produced MVP winners David Villa and Sebastian Giovinco, and Coach of the Year honorees such as Oscar Pareja and Jesse Marsch the past two seasons.

It's true that the USA has a Panama problem. Los Canaleros are the only team that ever beat the USA in a first-round Gold Cup game, in 2011, in the tournament launched 1991.

A revived Eastern Conference heads the list of midseason trends for the 2017 MLS campaign.

One would have been excused for not expecting much from the USA in its friendly against Ghana. One week ahead of the Gold Cup, Coach Bruce Arena was testing a new combination of players. His starting lineup included two debutants and seven players with fewer than 10 caps.