Gold Cup: Morris Atones for Sin; USA Redeems Title

In hockey terms, it'd be listed as even in the plus-minus column.

That's when a player's on the ice if teams are at full strength -- ie- no one's in the penalty box -- and a goal's allowed as well as being out there when a goal's scored.

In football, the dynamics are definitely more stark than that.

There is no penalty box, and the minus pertains to a defending player being personally at fault.

For the USA's Jordan Morris in the Gold Cup final against Jamaica, though, the plus meant all was forgiven.

He had Jozy Altidore to thank for that.

Dude was definitely a plus in the proceedings as the USA claimed a 2-1 victory over the Reggae Boyz that set the stage for Morris to standd up and be counted when it really counted:

USA, 2-1. That's now six Gold Cup championships for the Yanks.

Ironically, Jamaica broke even in their 88th-minute fortunes. It was a goal against Mexico at that point that vaulted them into the final, and now this.

But as far as title games go, they're now minus-2.

And Canada is still plus-1. Probably still celebrating, too.

That Morris has become a focal point of the Americans' footballing fortunes is a testimony to his mental strength as much a his physical abilities.

Dude's a type-1 diabetic who attacks its daily challenges to the point that he's an inspiration to others. He's been a prodigy of the game since his munchkin days, but you'd never know it from his demeanor.

Maybe it's because of these two factors that he takes the downs of a game in stride, ready to rise up when called upon.

Who knows if Andre Blake would've saved Altidore's and Morris' goals. And only he knows whether seven stiches on his hand was truly enough incapacity to leave a title game.

But this was the Gold Cup. Not the World Cup. That's something of which the Americans are keenly aware, too.