USMNT debuts at Gold Cup with comfortable win over Guyana
After hitting his first rough patch as head coach of the U.S. men’s national team thanks to recent sub-optimal performances in friendlies, Gregg Berhalter felt plenty of pressure entering the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup. Managing in his first meaningful match, his side opened its tournament campaign with a 4-0 takedown of Guyana in a somewhat uneven showing.
Berhalter went with a 4-1-4-1 for the occasion, placing Michael Bradley in front of a back four of Tim Ream, Aaron Long, Walker Zimmerman and Nick Lima. The attacking block of four consisted of Paul Arriola, Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic and Tyler Boyd, with Gyassi Zardes up top and Zack Steffan in net.
It’s the same look Berhalter has seemed intent on playing since his USMNT coaching debut back on Jan. 27, only the personnel has been upgraded. Then, it was Christian Roldan and Djordje Mihailovic starting in that dual No. 10 post. Now, it’s Pulisic and McKennie.
A gorgeous through ball from McKennie led to the U.S. opening the scoring. He found Arriola making a run from the touchline toward the box, who curled his effort between a Guyanese defender and goalkeeper Akel Clarke to find the net at the far post.
Bradley and Boyd connected to double the Americans’ edge early in the second half. The latter brought down a long aerial ball, shook his defender and scored on a low shot toward the far bar.
Zardes provided the third off his face after an Arriola shot deflected off a defender before ricocheting off the Columbus Crew SC striker and in. Zardes went a full 90 and turned in an up-and-down shift.
The fourth came courtesy of Boyd once again. His belter in the 81st minute sizzled past Clarke after skimming off a defender, this time with Arriola dishing out the assist. Boyd put forth a substantial case for man of the match.
If the Americans hope to compete with the likes of Mexico and Costa Rica, they’ll need to deliver sharper performances than they did Tuesday at Allianz Field. The linking of play from defense to offense needs to be crisper, faster and with fewer instances of sloppily coughing up possession. But four goals and a clean sheet aren’t exactly cause to hit the panic button.
Guyana will look to rebound next time out Saturday against Panama — another difficult assignment — as Group D play continues.
Also on Saturday, the Americans will venture to FirstEnergy Stadium to face Trinidad and Tobago, a team that brings a side effect of post-traumatic stress disorder along with it for U.S. supporters. The Trinidadians famously sank the USMNT’s 2018 World Cup hopes with a 2-1 win on the final day of qualifying in the Hex.
Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.
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