The US men’s national team showed a dominant performance in their first game in 2021 and prevailed 7-0 against Trinidad and Tobago in the friendly on Sunday at Exploria Stadium in Orlando.
Jesus Ferreira was one of the stars of the night for the US at the end of the attack, filling the stats with two goals and three assists, while Paul Arriola and Jonathan Lewis each scored a brace.
The Americans scored the goal just two minutes after the start of the game via Lewis, who shot a feed from Ferreira into an open net after the Dallas man was shot into goal by a perfectly threaded ball from Sam Vines.
Ferreira scored for one of his own in the ninth minute, with Vines again acting as the go-between. The Colorado Rapids left-back made an overlapping run and shot his cross in front of goal, allowing Ferreira to pounce on the easy ending and his first international goal.
Arriola continued the early attack, taking a break from Ferreira at the end of a counterattack and putting the target in an open goal in the 22nd minute. The DC United striker added his second goal in the 41st, taking in the fourth of the USMNT of the evening from the front of the field from another assistant from Ferreira, who headed Arriola into position.
The USMNT continued into the second half when Miles Robinson scored for his first international goal and Lewis and Ferreira scored again to make it 7-0. New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner didn’t have much to do in his first cap but came into play in the second half with a penalty against Trinidad’s Alvin Jones to keep the zero.
Gates
- 2 ‘- United States – Jonathan Lewis | CLOCK
- 9 ‘- USA – Jesus Ferreira | CLOCK
- 22 ‘- USA – Paul Arriola | CLOCK
- 41 ‘- United States – Paul Arriola | CLOCK
- 52 ‘- United States – Miles Robinson | CLOCK
- 55 ‘- United States – Jonathan Lewis | CLOCK
- 62 ‘- USA – Jesus Ferreira | CLOCK
Three things
- THE BIG PICTURE: It should be noted that they were playing against a team from Trinidad and Tobago who were playing their first game in almost a year, but it was still a good platform for a collection of USMNT players looking to push for more internationals, when the program looks to the future Ferreira, Vines and Lewis were among the youngsters who took the opportunity to make a splash, and it was too good to see Arriola finding the score sheet twice trying to work his way back Moved to the international league after his ACL injury that cost him the entire 2020 season at DC United.
- Moment of the game: The Americans’ first evening was a well-crafted team goal, starting with the beautiful Vines Ball.
- MAN OF THE GAME: There are several worthy candidates out there, but Ferreira’s explosive effort is the story of the night. 20-year-old FC Dallas was a beast throughout the game. In the first 45 minutes all four goals were taken into account and his first two international goals scored.
