The United States Under-20 Men’s National Team kicked off their defence of the CONCACAF championship in strong form on Friday night, defeating an overmatched Jamaica team by a commanding nine-goal margin in Celaya, Mexico.
USA 9 – 0 Jamaica
While the overall stakes of this edition of the regional U-20 tournament are somewhat decreased in comparison to the competition two years ago in Honduras, where Olympic qualification was also in play, it was still important for the Americans to avoid any slip-ups in the opener in order to assure the smoothest path to the final four, and a spot in next year’s U-20 World Cup in Chile.
Due to the smaller field of only 12 teams in the current edition, a somewhat more complicated knockout bracket would likely see the US potentially face hosts Mexico in a quarterfinal match should they finish second in group A, or alternatively a tricky matchup against Canada or Honduras in the less likely event of a third-place finish.
Highlights of the game can be seen here.
Still, a relatively unexperienced Jamaica team provided little resistance for American head coach Michael Nsien and his starting XI, who already managed to build a five-goal advantage before the halftime break.
A defensive miscue by Jamaica right back Shadeko Wizzard deep in his own territory at the one-minute mark gave Ruben Ramos the opportunity to fire a cross from the endline towards Marcos Zambrano, who was lurking at the edge of the six-yard box. The ball was deflected by the Jamaican keeper before reaching the Vitória de Guimarães youth player, however landed at the foot of David Vazquez, whose eight-yard shot from the right side hit the underside of the crossbar on its way into goal.
Not even two minutes after his first score, the Philadelphia Union youth product struck again for his second goal, recovering a misplaced pass just inside Jamaican territory and storming ahead before launching a 25-yard shot that just grazed the left upright on its way in.
Pedro Soma, based in Spain’s UE Cornellà, scored the next pair for the Americans in rapid succession.
His first came in the 16th minute when Vazquez’s high, outswinging corner from the left dropped in free space amidst the crowd of bodies in front of goal, where Soma was waiting to tap it in with a short volley. Four minutes later, he added a second to his tally, controlling a short, headed pass from Zambrano, cutting the ball back to fake out his marking defender, and sliding his shot into the left side for the 4-0 lead.
Shortly after Jamaica’s head coach John Wall opted for an early, non-injury substitute, Cruz Medina made it five for the young Yanks with six minutes remaining in the half, finishing rapid counter following another turnover by collecting a short cross from Vazquez and smacking a low shot on the turn past the keeper from six yards.
The second half continued much as the first, with Nsien’s men adding another four. Vazquez was given a rest after the break following a rather productive opening 45 minutes, giving way to Real Salt Lake prospect Zavier Gozo, who wtasted little time in making an impact.
Zambrano struck first in the 54th minute, completing the Americans’ half-dozen when he and Gozo teamed up to streak in behind the Jamaican central defense on a fast break, easily hitting the target from ten yards with a wide-open shot.
Then left-sided attacker Ramos finally got in on the action midway through the half, with the LA Galaxy youth player cleaning up a botched clearance from a Jamaican defender for the 7-0 lead. Substitute Nimfasha Berchimas put away the Americans’ eighth goal in the 77th minute, five minutes after entering the game; his easy tap-in from a Gozo cross after the Jamaican defense was caught sleeping was initially flagged for off-side, but overturned by VAR.
Then fellow second-half substitute Nikolas Tsakiris capped the nine-goal performance in the final seconds of injury time, finishing a short lay-off from Berchimas after the Jamaican keeper committed early.
While the offensive explosion is the clear attention-grabber, the defensive press from Nsien’s men also did a fine job of keeping the opposition off-balance, prone to costly giveaways, and unable to mount any formidable attempts on goal. The Jamaicans only managed four shots, all of them from outside the area, and keeper Adam Beaudry easily saved the three of those which were struck on-frame.
The result puts the United States in pole position in Group A on three points, ahead of Costa Rica & Cuba, who played to a 1-1 draw several hours earlier in the tournament opener. They will face the Cubans on Monday evening, with expectations high for another victory that would all but assure a first-place finish in the group.
Defender Luca Bombino was the only American to pick up a yellow card in the match, leaving the team with minimal risk of facing any unwanted suspensions in the eventual group finale against Costa Rica on Thursday.
