The U.S. Men’s National Team kicks off 2021 with its first match of the new year, taking on Trinidad & Tobago at Exploria Stadium in Orlando (7pm, FS1).
Gregg Berhalter is deploying a young squad for his first match of the year, with a nod towards Olympic qualifying in March. Jesus Ferreira, Jonathan Lewis, Jackson Yueill, Sam Vines, Aaron Herrera and Miles Robinson are all eligible for the U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team for Olympic Qualifying in March, and all six will have a chance to play together and show U-23 coach Jason Kreis that they deserve to make up the nucleus of the Olympic qualifying squad.
SBI’s Editorial Staff will be providing periodic updates and analysis on the match in the comments section below. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions as well.
Enjoy the action.
Biggest first impression: Peres. Loads of potential. He’ll be a key contributor in WCQ without question.
Herrera also made a great impression for a teenager. Only 18.
Tessman is just 19. With good coaching and growth, he can make the leap.
Excellent to see Turner get a well-deserved start with a key save.
Herrera is 23, did you mean Bello he just turned 19?
FINAL- USA 7, Trinidad and Tobago 0.
Jesus Ferreira was Man of the Match, but there were plenty of strong performances throughout the USA lineup. Paul Arriola, Sam Vines, Jonathan Lewis, Miles Robinson and Matt Turner can all walk away happy with how they played today, as can some others.
The game is winding to a close and it remains 7-0 USA.
Tanner Tessmann entered the match for his USMNT debut. The FC Dallas midfielder has a well-known fan in the stands watching in Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney, who happens to be his godfather.
77th minute, still 7-0. Daryl Dike replaced Paul Arriola in the 65th minute. In the 78th minute it’s Tanner Tessman replacing Aaron Herrera, making his USMNT debut.
Matt Turner with a PENALTY SAVE, denies Alvin Jones from the spot after an Andres Perea foul in the penalty area gave Trinidad & Tobago a chance to break the shutout.
Turner said “Not Today”, and made the penalty save.
Still 7-0, USA, 68th minute.
Jesus Ferreira makes it 7-0, capping an incredible night with two goals and three assists before coming out of the match.
Cristian Roldan, Chris Mueller and George Bello replaced Ferreira, Sam Vines and Jackson Yueill in the 64th minute.
Goal USA and it’s Jonathan Lewis making it 6-0. Kellyn Acosta picks out his Colorado Rapids teammate and Lewis does the right, takes a great took, frees himself with a quick move and unleashes a right-footed shot for the finish.
6-0, USMNT, 57th minute.
GOAL USA and it’s Miles Robinson with a header goal in his first USMNT start. 5-0 USA now.
Aaron Long, with the pin-point header to find Robinson right in front of goal.
5-0 USA, 53rd minute.
HALFTIME- The USMNT is coasting, 4-0. Jesus Ferreira has been outstanding. Trinidad just can’t put any real pressure on the ball, making it too easy for the likes of Ferreira, Arriola and Jonathan Lewis to make dangerous runs and incisive passes.
T&T isn’t providing much of a test, but the UMSNT still deserves credit for taking advantage of situations and converting chances.
Andres Perea replaced Sebastian Lletget at halftime.
HT: USMNT 4 – T&T 0. Paul Arriola with two goals, Jesus Ferreira with one goal/three assists, and Jon Lewis with one goal. USMNT haven’t been tested defensively at all. Expect plenty of HT subs coming up.
GOAL USA and it’s Paul Arriola with an excellent finish to make it 4-0.
Jesus Ferreira’s header springs Arriola, who takes an excellent touch to bring the header down, then finishes it off for his second goal of the night.
That’s three assists and a goal for Ferreira so far.
4-0 USA, 43rd minute.
Herrera denied from close range. Great movement and passing from USMNT on that run up. 37′
USMNT has taken its foot off the gas a bit. Still up 3-0, 37th minute.
Great save by Trinidad’s goalkeeper denies Aaron Herrera, who made an excellent run onto a Jesus Ferreira pass.
Ferreira tests his luck from outside of the box and forces a good save. If anything, we should see more of this from USMNT going forward tonight. 36′
USMNT continuing to pile on the pressure, but unable to break through again. 31′
Thanks for doing this! Can’t get the game right now. This is great!
There’s a two-minute hydration break taking place right now. The teams agreed to have one in the middle of each half in order to help with the fitness issues of not being in season.
USMNT having no trouble with Trinidad, and Matt Turner doesn’t look likely to be tested at this rate.
GOAL USA!! Paul Arriola makes it 3-0, finishes off an excellent layoff pass from Jesus Ferreira.
Arriola sprang Ferreira on the break, then continued a trailing run. Credit to Ferreira for not forcing anything, and picking out Arriola’s run.
3-0 USMNT, 22nd minute.
Another great move by Jesus Ferreira who eventually sets up Paul Arriola for a tap in. 3-0. Ferreira’s pace causing a big problem. 24′
Seeing a lot of the same type of things from the USMNT that I saw in last month’s friendly vs. El Salvador in Fort Lauderdale.
Lots of focus on playing out wide, be it through cross-field switches, overlapping runs, or numerical overloads.
Trinidad & Tobago gets one moment, before having to defend for countless minutes in a row. USMNT continuing to show confidence on the ball. 21′
20th minute- Still 2-0 USA. Americans dominating possession, knocking it around. Trinidad & Tobago can’t really get a hold of the ball.
The USMNT has been finding much success down the left wing through Vines. Lets see if T&T will try to change things defensively. 19′
Jonathan Lewis nearly scores his second, but his header is blocked by the goalkeeper. Not sure how he didn’t convert that.
Still 2-0 USMNT, 16th minute.
Trinidad & Tobago looking overmatched. Should be noted it’s an inexperienced group, and T&T hasn’t played in a year.
Not sure how it looked on TV, but here at Exploria Stadium that pass from Lewis to Vines on the overlap was perfectly timed and executed. Those are the types of runs and patterns Berhalter has surely had the players working on a good bit during the last few weeks.
USMNT is all over Trinidad & Tobago to start the match.
Jonathan Lewis scored just two minutes in, set up by Jesus Ferreira.
Seven minutes later, it’s Sam Vines delivering the perfect cross to Ferreira to make it 2-0.
Just nine minutes in and the Americans are coasting. Great work from Vines, Lewis and Ferreira early on.
Good evening everybody. The USMNT is set to take on Trinidad & Tobago, and there are plenty of new faces in the mix, including Matt Turner, who is making his debut tonight.
Kellyn Acosta is back in the mix, and earns the start after a bounce-back 2020.
Jesus Ferreira starting over Daryl Dike was a bit surprising, but Ferreira showed real promise in the January USMNT camp a year ago. That said, he had a rough 2020 for FC Dallas while Dike had an outstanding rookie season for Orlando City.