Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The United States ended their four-match losing run with a resounding 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in their opening game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Sunday in San Jose. Mauricio Pochettino and his team, which is missing several Europe-based regulars, had faced plenty of criticism after recent friendly defeats to Turkey and Switzerland. In desperate need of a change in mood around the team, a year out from the World Cup they will co-host with Canada and Mexico, Pochettino fielded an attacking line-up.
Against a Trinidad team, coached by former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke, it proved to be just the kind of stress-free comfortable win that the Argentine coach was seeking. The USA were on top from the outset with two early chances for striker Patrick Agyemang, and it was the striker who helped create the 16th-minute opener. Agyemang won the ball off Trinidad defender Alvin Jones, found Jack McGlynn on the right who kept his cool and clipped the ball to the back post where Malik Tillman collected and then slotted home.
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It was a tough day for Jones, who then gifted the USA their second goal with a back-pass that went straight to winger Diego Luna who broke away and then unselfishly squared to Tillman for the PSV Eindhoven midfielder’s second. Trinidad were showing why they have fallen down the FIFA rankings, slipping to 100th and fourth in the Caribbean, below Curacao, lacking any kind of solidity. The lively Luna created the third, a minute before the break, when he cut in from the left and his low shot deflected off Agyemang and beat the helpless Marin Phillip.
It was easy going for Pochettino’s side in the second half, with Trinidad managing to threaten once when Tyrese Spicer put a low ball across the face of the goal but the sliding Dante Sealy was unable to connect. With the game fizzling out, Pochettino made a triple substitution and that added some late urgency to his side’s attack. Sub Brenden Aaronson cut in from left and squeezed a low shot past Phillip’s near post, and then another man off the bench, Haji Wright, completed the convincing victory when he broke down the left and drifted inside before placing the ball in the far corner.
The USA, looking for an eighth Gold Cup title, face Saudi Arabia and Haiti in their remaining two games in Group D.
© 2024 AFP
