The U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup as well as the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship final with a 6-2 win against Cuba in the teams’ final match of the classification stage.
Three goals in each half highlighted by the first tournament tallies for Indiana Vassilev, Andrew Carleton and Bryan Reynolds paced the U.S. attack, which dominated much of the game. A Cuba own goal by Miguel Coll and second-half strikes from Zyen Jones and Tim Weah – each player’s second of the competition – rounded out the USA’s offensive barrage.
Cuba kept the match interesting by converting one of its few chances through Brian Savigne’s bullish run through the U.S. defense to tie the match at 1-1 midway through the first half and an unfortunate own goal from the USA’s Arturo Vazquez early in the second half that brought Cuba within striking distance at 3-2 in the 47th minute.
An impressive performance from Cuba goalkeeper Danny Echeverria also contributed to Cuba’s fight to stay in the match as he twice denied U.S. leading goal scorer Josh Sargent – once from the penalty spot – as well as a host of other players but was unable to stymie the Americans’ relentless attack.
With the win, the USA finished atop Group D. The team will face the winner of the Group E finale between Costa Rica and Mexico in the tournament title match.
Up Next: The U-17 MNT head to the title game of the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship on Sunday, May 5 against either Costa Rica or Mexico. Kickoff from Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City is set for 4 p.m. ET, and the match can be seen live on UDN and the CONCACAF YouTube channel.
