KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The United States Under-23 national team knew Cuba were tired and short of players after two rounds of defections reduced their 20-man roster to 15 men – three of them goalkeepers.
But they also knew they couldn't ease up on Saturday's opponents if they wanted to keep building momentum through the group stage of their Olympic qualifying tournament. And pour it on they did.
“Before the game, what we talked about in our huddle was ... having that mentality where if we get one, we're going to get another one, and we're going to get another one – to kind of go for the jugular a little bit,” Columbus midfielder Wil Trapp told reporters after the USA locked up a semifinal spot with a 6-1 rout. “And I think we did a good job of that today.”
Balance and distribution played big roles in Saturday's result, with five players – led by striker Jerome Kiesewetter's brace – scoring against the Cubans. Second-half sub Alonzo Hernandez's goal gave the USA three from the forward corps, with one from midfielder Emerson Hyndman and one each from their young central defenders – Cameron Carter-Vickers and the New York Red Bulls' Matt Miazga.
“I felt like we kept going at them,” said Real Salt Lake's Luis Gil, who assisted on the team's first and fifth goals. “We didn't settle for being up 3-0 at half. We kept going and going, and we wanted even more at the end of the game.”
Gil, who came off the bench and scored a late goal from the penalty spot when the U.S. opened group play with a 3-1 victory over Canada on Thursday, was in the //www.mlssoccer.com/players/marc-pelosiXI against Cuba and repeatedly generated chances on both set pieces and through balls.
“That's what I wanted,” Gil said. “I wanted to get the team going. I felt like we needed it after the first game. We needed some possession in midfield, and I feel like I brought that to the game. I feel like there was a lot more movement in there.”
The U.S. had one scary moment late when San Jose defender Marc Pelosi – who lost two years to a broken right leg while he was at Liverpool's academy – went down in second-half stoppage time and had to be stretchered off. The injury was not serious, though, coach Andi Herzog told reporters in his postmatch news conference.
“Right now, he's getting some stitches on his shin,” Herzog said. “It's a cut, a huge cut. But you remember with his story, his injury where he broke his leg and was out for nearly two years. I was really worried that something had happened again. It hurts, but at least it's not that bad.”
