US and Canadian youth national teams were wreaking havoc on the international level this weekend.
Hours after the US Under-20s downed the Republic of Ireland's Under-21s for their second straight win at the Marbella Tournament, the Canadian Under-20s used two penalty kicks to defeat Russia's U-21s 2-1 on Saturday for a consecutive positive result.
Canada were coming off a 2-2 draw against England on Wednesday with Toronto FC forward Jordan Hamilton netting the equalizer. Hamilton, who's currently on loan at Portuguese second-division side CD Trofense, opened the scoring on Saturday by converting a penalty earned by Michael Petrasso in the 49th minute.
Just two minutes later the Canadians doubled their lead, again from the spot. This time it was Vancouver Whitecaps product Marco Bustos drawing the PK and doing the honors himself for a 2-0 lead.
Russia struck back with a shot off the bar, before getting their own penalty kick with 10 minutes remaining and sealing the final 2-1 scoreline.
A total of six MLS academy players started the match for Canada: In addition to Hamilton, there was his TFC teammate Manny Aparicio, Montreal Impact's Louis Beland-Goyette and the Vancouver Whitecaps trio of Marco Carducci, Samuel Adekugbe and Bustos.
Canada, coached by Rob Gale, now face a preview of a potential CONCACAF Under-20 World Cup qualifying showdown when they face the US Under-20s on Tuesday.
Canada Under-20 Starting Lineup: Marco Carducci -- Samuel Adekugbe, Marko Aleksic, Chris Serban, Alexander Comsia -- Marco Bustos, Hanson Boakai, Louis Beland-Goyette, Michael Petrasso, Manny Aparicio -- Jordan Hamilton.
