Despite win over Canada, U.S. needs to drop hammer

	He didn't end up in the scoreline, but Clint Dempsey gave the U.S. offense a spark. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
	MAILBAG Grant Wahl will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Five things we learned from the U.S.'s 2-1 Gold Cup semifinal win over Canada while confirming that The Fours in Boston is SI's Best Sports Bar in America (many thanks for your hospitality showing the game, guys):

1. If you're looking for referee conspiracies to ensure a U.S.-Mexico final, CONCACAF is providing its share of evidence. No, I don't really think the games are fixed. And no, I'm normally not one to bellyache about officiating, but the bogus offside call that erased Canada's last-minute equalizer was only the latest pebble on a pile of awful Gold Cup calls against teams not named the U.S. or Mexico. (The two regional heavyweights, which would ensure a huge gate on Sunday, haven't met in the Gold Cup since 1998.) Bad officiating takes place everywhere, but the number of butchered offside calls in this tournament has been shocking. At the very least, a Mexican referee shouldn't be working a game in which the winner likely will meet Mexico in the final (though let the record show that U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley deserved the red card that Benito Archundia gave him in the final minutes).

2. The U.S. still can't drop the hammer. I'll be the first person to acknowledge that the U.S. is the only one of the Gold Cup's four semifinalists not to have lost in the tournament. That said, the Americans continued their inability to put away decidedly weaker competition when they had their opponent on the ropes. All Landon Donovan had to do was one-time a picture-perfect DaMarcus Beasley pass into an empty net to give the Yanks a 3-0 lead early in the second half and seal Canada's fate. Instead, LanDo totally whiffed and the Canucks came back to throw even more tension into the final minutes than Panama did in the quarterfinals. All credit to Donovan for his sublime pass to Frankie Hejduk for the U.S.'s first goal and for converting yet another penalty, but the Americans won't be able to afford such missed opportunities in the final, not with their back line still struggling.

3. Clint Dempsey made more of an impact than you think. The man they call Deuce didn't end up in the scoreline, but he did the little things that led to the two U.S. goals. It was Dempsey whose work down the right side earned the free kick that led to the Americans' first goal. And it was Dempsey's I-see-everything pass that sprang Beasley on the run that earned the penalty which made it 2-0.

4. Experience does matter. Hejduk's goal -- an exquisite one-timer off Donovan's sweet pass to make it 1-0 -- came exactly three minutes after SI's NFL editor (who shall remain nameless) called me to bury the 32-year-old Hejduk's national-team career. "What's Hejduk doing out there?" yelled said editor. "He's a walking yellow card. Why not play [youngsters] Jonathan Spector or Frank Simek?" Hejduk still can't cross and he'll miss Sunday's final on a suspension for yellow cards, but he may indeed be turning into the U.S.'s version of Julio Franco, not least because he remains among the Yanks' top three fittest players. (Only one question, Frankie: We appreciated your second-half step-over, but where was the classic Rasta-man goal celebration dance?)

5. Argentina won't be messing around next Thursday against the United States. In case you're wondering, the Copa América won't be as watered-down as you might think. Case in point: Argentina, the U.S.'s opening-game opponent next Thursday, which is taking a roster that includes Lionel Messi, Hernán Crespo, Carlos Tévez, Javier Mascherano, Juan Román Riquelme, Fernando Gago, Diego Milito and Pablo Aimar. One thing I've always loved about the Argentines is their rampant patriotism, and when it comes to playing for their country you don't hear any namby-pamby excuses for sitting out.