USMNT finds a way past Haiti for a perfect record in Gold Cup group play

Washington Post

4 hours ago

ARLINGTON, Texas — With a Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinal berth secure and first place in group play all but settled, the U.S. men's national soccer team looked to its opening-round finale Sunday to satisfy players itching for time, maintain an unblemished defensive record and continue growing into this 23-day competition.
The 2-1 victory over Haiti was not exactly a momentum-building performance, but thanks to Patrick Agyemang's 75th-minute goal, the Americans completed their Group D compulsories with a perfect record and turned their full attention to the regional trophy.
The quarterfinal is tentatively scheduled for next Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Concacaf, though, was not planning to announce details until the U.S. opponent was determined by Sunday's late match between Mexico and Costa Rica.
Saudi Arabia — which lost to the United States, 1-0, on Thursday in Austin — also advanced out of Group D, finishing second with a 1-1-1 record after tying winless Trinidad and Tobago, 1-1, in Las Vegas.
Agyemang compensated for earlier misses by collecting John Tolkin's long ball and touching it past advancing goalkeeper Johny Placide before rolling an angled shot into the open net for his second goal of the tournament.
Malik Tillman opened the scoring in the 10th minute, but Haiti (0-2-1) drew even nine minutes later after a U.S. blunder.
FIFA rankings are not the most accurate measure of team strengths, but the No. 16 Americans did not exactly face global heavyweights in the group stage: At No. 58, Saudi Arabia was their highest-ranked foe.
After earning just one point in its first two matches, No. 83 Haiti needed to go all out for a victory Sunday. And it had a few quality opportunities.
After using the same lineup in the first two matches, U.S. Coach Mauricio Pochettino made four changes. Tolkin replaced Max Arfsten at left back, while Tyler Adams, Quinn Sullivan and Brenden Aaronson stepped in for Sebastian Berhalter, Jack McGlynn and Diego Luna in midfield.
Adams and Aaronson — members of the 2022 World Cup squad — had yielded to younger teammates in the first two games, but with a chance for the team to catch its breath, Pochettino saw an opportunity to spread the wealth.
Haiti's starting forwards presented a test for a U.S. backline that had blanked Trinidad and Tobago and Saudi Arabia: Frantzdy Pierrot and French-born Duckens Nazon have well-established European careers and combined for 72 international goals, though most have come against weak Concacaf opponents. The Haitian lineup also featured two U.S.-based pros: Philadelphia Union midfielder Danley Jean Jacques and defender Garven Metusala, who plays for the second-division Colorado Springs Switchbacks.
Adams received a yellow card 25 seconds into the match for taking down Nazon from behind.
Haiti threatened, but the United States struck first. Aaronson's bid in the box was blocked, but he stuck with it and, after combining with Luca de la Torre, lifted a well-weighted cross to Tillman for a five-yard header back across the face of the goal and into the far corner for his third goal in three games. Before his two-goal performance in the group opener against Trinidad and Tobago, the German-born midfielder had never scored for the United States since committing to the program in 2022.
So clean defensively in the first two matches, the United States stumbled in the 19th minute. Center back Tim Ream tracked a long ball and touched it back to goalkeeper Matt Freese — a routine play, though the close distance between the players raised the danger level. Freese scuffed his one-timer directly to Louicius Don Deedson, who drove an angled shot into the far corner.
It was not the first time since camp opened three weeks ago that such a calamity had transpired. In the June 7 tuneup against Turkey, deflections in a three-minute span of the first half turned a lead into a deficit. Three days later, calamitous defending led to a four-goal halftime deficit against Switzerland.
De la Torre proceeded to set up two opportunities, but Agyemang squandered a breakaway and Sullivan volleyed off the crossbar. Earlier, Agyemang had not done well with a promising development in the box.
Both sides threatened in the second half. In a four-minute span, Tillman had two goals disallowed, by a handball and offside.
Tillman narrowly missed after receiving Adams's gorgeous long ball, but Agyemang snapped the deadlock with his fifth goal in nine appearances this year.
Note: Forward Haji Wright, who scored as a sub in the group opener, was ruled out of the tournament with a chronic Achilles' tendon issue. His English club, Coventry City, will reevaluate him.
Tournament rules prevent roster changes once the competition begins, leaving the U.S. team with 25 players. With the gameday squad limited to 23, goalkeeper Chris Brady and forward Damion Downs (contusion) were not in uniform.