Sweeney: Five quickie takeaways from a wild 24 hours in midweek football

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Five takeaways from 24 hours of football? Coming at you ... right now.

They didn’t go out with a whimper, that’s for sure.

If US Soccer had scheduled MLS teams to enter the Open Cup for, say, early May… I don’t think the Revolution gives those watching on ESPN+ that kind of a thrill toward the end of Wednesday’s Fifth Round match. Not at all.

If this is early May, in the days before Brad Friedel gets the sack, the Revs crumble badly in extra time — if it even had the chance to get to extra time, of course. The new Revs, though … they fight to the end, and maybe, just maybe, one of those tries finds the back of the net — like Juan Fernando Caicedo’s shot to the near post that Adam Grinwis dives and parried aside in the third minute of extra time’s stoppage time. That happens, we’re into the penalty shootout.

By the way, tip your cap to Grinwis for the two big saves he made on Teal Bunbury in the 63rd and that JFC shot. That and the fact the Revs couldn’t put one of 19 other shots on frame outside of Justin Rennicks’ account opener … well, there you have it.

Certainly, the result did not go their way, and the loss means the Revs still have yet to win in Florida in this new era of MLS: they have not captured a win in the Sunshine State since a 3-2 win over the defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny on June 19, 1999 — and remember, there wasn’t an MLS franchise there from 2002-14. New England doesn’t have to worry about going back to Florida until September.

But I still think the Revolution can use the experiences from these last two matches as a springboard for the remainder of the regular season — yes, this road-heavy second half starting with next Wednesday’s home date against Philadelphia. Will New England make the playoffs? That’s still up in the air … but if we’ve learned anything over the last five weeks, this team has grown resilient.

Don’t blame Matt Turner for the exit.

When the Revs were last here for a meaningful game — August 4 — there were a couple of moves made by Matt Turner which really had the fandom flummoxed. Thanks to those issues and instead of heading back to Foxborough with a win, New England had to settle for a tie which extended the Revolution’s predictable summer swoon.

On Wednesday, two extra-time goals practically decided the result. The first saw Benji Michel take a couple of touches off a rebounded shot and put it out of Turner’s reach. The second one was a lazy ball that deflected off Andrew Farrell’s foot, a ball that had Turner heading toward his right. The deflection redirected the ball.

Anyone who blames Turner is not being fair to him. He put in a solid shift Wednesday, and he was the unfortunate victim of two bad bounces. That happens in football, and it happened against the Revolution.

Have to move on and focus on the league now.

Cupset, Cupset, Not A Cupset.

Outside of the Revs and Lions, I had my peepers on the other matches in both the Open and Gold Cups — including the two upsets which saw Saint Louis FC down FC Cincinnati, 1-0, and New Mexico United’s  2-1 win over FC Dallas here domestically.

Of course, those two winners are both from USL Championship, and they will advance to play another set of MLS sides on July 9/10. Huge drama, folks. Just because the Revs are out does not mean you really have to peel your eyes away from the Open Cup.

But not only those Cupsets. ... How about Martinique flattening Cuba, 3-0, in the CONCACAF Gold Cup Wednesday night? Martinique has seven players not playing domestically, including Seattle’s Jordy Delem.

That’s not necessarily a Cupset, mind you — Cuba’s ranked 177th in the world to Martinique’s 96 — but it was a nice rebound win given they have no chance against Mexico on Sunday.

The VAR decision against Scotland’s goalkeeper was the right call.

Feel gutted for Scotland. Do it. If you’re a member of the Tartan Army, I can give you no re-assuring words.

Honestly, I was behind the Scotland women on Wednesday afternoon. I was excited for them when Kim Little scored the opener — Scotland’s first Women’s World Cup goal — and had to let a little smile cross my face when Arsenal ladies’ defender Jennifer Beattie scored to double the lead.

When Scotland made it 3-0, I thought that was it. I was happy for England’s noisy neighbors.

But Argentina’s comeback was one for the ages. A team that doesn’t get support from its FA — and really, when you think about it, Title IX is really what helped launch the US women’s national team, sending resources toward women’s soccer development and, eventually, the three stars it now wears over the crest — did the absolute impossible at the Parc des Princes Wednesday evening.

And yes, Lee Alexander stopped that late penalty — but just like the referees have adjudged and have warned goalkeepers before in this tournament, you cannot come off your line to make a penalty save. The yellow card and the re-take — even with Alexander flustered by it in such an emotional moment — was justified, and even more important, consistent.

I know it is not how you learned the rule. The rule has changed, and we need to prepare ourselves for the inevitable switch in men’s football — because you know it’s coming.

We have to prepare to teach our young goalkeepers to stay on their line in penalty situations, just like we need to start teaching defenders to defend in the box with their arms behind their backs in order to prevent a penalty.

Sure, it was just Guyana, but still….

Not a bad start to the US men’s CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign on Tuesday night. Two goals by Tyler Boyd — his first goals for the Yanks — the second of which a stunner and a half, helped the US get out to a 4-0 win over region bottom feeders Guyana in Minnesota.

There isn’t really too much to say about the match: the Americans, as expected, dominated in possession. It’s not breaking news. Former Columbus goalkeeper Zach Steffen wasn’t called into action that much, the defending untested. Guyana’s defense, though, was scrappy, and they had second efforts to deny Christian Pulisic early — the way he eased his way into the attacking third was like butter — as well as the others in the American attack.

Honestly, it could have been upward of 6-0 or 7-0 without the Guyanan defensive corps. A couple of the US finishes left a little to be desired, true, but credit Guyana. Tuesday night was a good first test for the Yanks in their first true competitive fixture since the failure in Couva, and it was passed. Now…

Saturday’s opponent, Trinidad & Tobago, is not Guyana. We know this, and the Stars and Stripes will have to come out with the same intensity — if not higher — from Tuesday.

In short, they need to take care of business this weekend in order to really restore confidence in the men’s national team. They may not win the whole kit and kaboodle, but restoring the status quo this weekend is imperative.