United keeper Bill Hamid recorded his second career international shutout in Saturday night's Gold Cup match against Nicaragua. Hamid made two saves in his Gold Cup debut, helping secure the 3-0 victory that propelled the U.S. Men's National Team to the top of Group B.
In his first international start since November of 2014, Hamid appeared comfortable between the posts, where he was not tested much but came up big when needed. Hamid prevented a Nicaragua equalizer in the 38th minute, pushing a wide-open Bismarck Veliz shot over the crossbar to preserve the Americans' lead. United's Homegrown saved the Yankees again in the 74th minute, when Juan Barrera fired a shot from distance that led to a scramble in the box. Hamid sprawled to his right to deny Barrera, quickly returned to his feet, and pounced on the rebound to prevent any follow-up, point-blank Nicaraguan shots.
In total, Hamid logged two saves in the 3-0 win, helping the USMNT earn their first clean sheet of the tournament. The Americans needed to defeat Nicaragua by at least three goals in order to win Group B and did just that thanks to Hamid's netminding and a U.S. goal with just minutes left in regulation time.
"Hamid did very well," Bruce Arena, USMNT head coach, said following the match. "Credit to Bill for the clean sheet."
The Yankees now travel to Philadelphia to take on El Salvador in the quarterfinals at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday night.
