Shaq Moore shines in Gold Cup
One of the players who has emerged from the group stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the United States national team is Shaq Moore. The outside back has earned praised for his ability in the final third but also for his strong individual defending.
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And while the right back position is a crowded one for the United States and head coach Gregg Berhalter, the emergence of Moore is a positive from a Gold Cup that at times feels like a bit of a throw away following this group’s success in the Nations League. Moore currently plays in Spain’s second division for Tenerife.
On Thursday, Berhalter spoke with Sirius XM FC’s ‘Counter Attack’ show about the United States and their upcoming match against Jamaica. Co-hosts Tony Meola and Brian Dunseth asked several questions of Berhalter, who was thoughtful in his answers.
Meola asked about Moore’s development in this tournament, a player he is familiar with from coaching with the United States youth national teams.
“Every player takes a different pathway right? And he’s a guy that has just been working in his craft and playing a ton of games he played over 40 games last year in the second division and he’s been just steadily improving. And, you know he’s a solid player, and very good guy, you know from working with him, he’s a great guy, a great team player, consummate professional, and these are the type of guys you want to have in your camp,” Berhalter said on the Sirius XM show.
“And so for him to get this opportunity, you know scored a good goal he had a kind of an assist in the first game against Haiti. And you know it’s a great story and I think it just shows to the to a lot of players that, you know, just keep going, focus on what you’re doing day in and day out with your clubs and good things will happen with the national team.”
Moore has not been a consistent call-up for Berhalter over the past two years and yet he has taken this opportunity and run with it. In Sunday’s 1-0 win over Canada to close out the group stage, he scored the fastest goal in men’s national team history.
‘Counter Attack’ is an afternoon show on Sirius XM that discusses in-depth the United States national teams, MLS as well as international soccer.
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