The United States Men’s U-20 team remained perfect in Group A play, with a much-changed lineup still getting the solid, even if unspectacular shut-out victory over Cuba on Monday night.
Head coach Michael Nsien used the relatively low-pressure game against the Cubans to both rest most of his starters from the first game, as well as test out a slight tactical shift ahead of the all-important final group-stage game against Costa Rica later in the week.
In comparison to Friday’s opener against Jamaica, only defender Luca Bombino and team captain Nolan Norris kept their spots in the starting XI, with the other nine being rotated out. This was accompanied by a slight shift in the defense and midfield, with a three-man back line allowing a slight fortification in the midfield.
Highlights of the game can be seen here.
Liverpool prospect Keyrol Figueroa, who starred for the Under-17 team in last year’s CONCACAF championship, started in the middle of the front line, however was largely subdued during his 73 minutes of play.
Just past the 14-minute mark, Nikolas Tsakiris whipped a free kick from the right flank towards the top edge of the six-yard box, which Werder Bremen youth player Ethan Kohler re-directed into the far side of goal with a deft flick for the 1-0 lead.
Barely ten minutes later, Taha Habroune received the ball 30 yards straight out from goal and battled towards the edge of the area under heavy pressure from a trio of Cuban defenders. At the last moment, he slid a pass off towards Zavier Gozo who was wide open on the right side, and the Real Salt Lake youngster nailed his shot to the lower near corner through the grasp of keeper Yurdy Hodelin.
Nsien was forced into an early sub at the 37-minute mark when Kohler suffered an eye issue, being replaced by Aiden Harangi, then opted to bring in Cruz Medina and Noah Cobb after the half in place of Tsakiris and Norris, both of whom will play important roles on Thursday.
Two minutes before the hour, Columbus Crew first-teamer Habroune scored the third for the Americans, on a strange play that was heavily contested by the Cuban defenders.
Sergio Oregel tried to loop a 25-yard free kick over the Cuban wall, however it appeared to take a deflection off of one of their arms before slipping through to the other side. Habroune had slipped behind the wall after the kick, and was barely kept onside by Cristian Mendoza, who was well away from the action, before poking the ball past the keeper for the 3-0 advantage.
Substitute Marcos Zambrano added a fourth for the young Yanks and his second of the tournament shortly after the end of regulation following a heads-up takeaway by Habroune. Zambrano immediately earned a corner on the ensuing attack, which was quickly hit back to Habroune, whose cross from the right was subsequently deflected over the line by the Vitória de Guimarães attacker to complete the win.
While not as much of a thorough domination as their nine-goal opener against Jamaica, Nsien’s men were still in control for the majority of the proceedings, outshooting the Cubans by a 12-3 margin, and once again limiting their opponents to only distance shots from outside the area with their effective defensive press.
In his tournament debut, keeper Julian Eyestone saved both shots that were put on-target with no difficulty, with one early attempt from Cuban captain Karel Pérez klanging off of the woodwork. In addition, the Americans held 56% of the possession, despite the Cubans chasing the game for the vast majority of the time, and earned eight corners in comparison to three from their opponents.
The victory assures the foregone conclusion of qualification to the knockout round, with the top spot being only thing left to be decided in Thursday’s finale against Costa Rica, which is likely to see the return of several of the starters from the first group game.
Costa Rica easily beat Jamaica in the other group A game, meaning a draw will be enough to set up a quarterfinal match against the third-place team from either Group B or C, whereas a Costa Rica victory would most likely set up a high-stakes knockout for the Americans against hosts Mexico.
With Stuart Hawkins being the only American to pick up a yellow card, only he and fellow defender Bombino need to be wary of triggering a possible quarterfinal suspension in Thursday’s game.