AUSTIN – The United States Men’s National Team opened play in the Concacaf Nations League on Friday night. They hosted minnow Grenada at Q2 Stadium in Austin, TX. Gregg Berhalter rotated his squad given the opponent, giving Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams the night off. Walker Zimmerman was on the bench. Jesus Ferreira made his third straight start up top.
Jesus Ferreira Haul Lift USMNT Over Grenada in Nations League
The first 40 minutes were a frustrating for the Yanks and the crowd. They had most of the ball and got into good areas. Finish again was poor. The front three of Ferreira, Paul Arriola, and Jordan Morris left much to be desired inside the 18. USMNT fans might have some complaints about the officiating with VAR not in use on several no calls in the box.
Ferreira scored his first of three in the final minutes of the second half. He immediately recovered a rebound off an Arriola shot. He took a few touches to set up his shot then picked out the far bottom corner.
Berhalter made two first half subs with Zimmerman on for Aaron Long, who suffered a collision early in the first half with the Grenada goalkeeper Jason Belfron. Malik Tillman also came on for Weston McKennie.
Ferreira made it 2-0 in the 54th in a breakaway. Two great passes up the middle saw Luca de la Tore find Arriola, who played Ferreira in on goal. He calmly beat Belfron. LDLT had a good performance overall with great passing from the middle of the field.
The center forward completed his hattrick two minutes later on a corner. Kellyn Acosta played a soft ball into space just inside the box. Ferreira picked it up off the ground and curled it into the back of the net. His three goals came in a 13 minutes span of playing time.
Arriola joined the scoresheet in the 62nd minutes. LDLT cut through the defense and played Arriola in behind. He rounded the keeper with the first touch and scored with the second.
Ferreira completed his haul (yes, that’s what you call four goals in soccer) in the 78th minute, set up by Brenden Aaronson. The match ended 5-0.
78’ GOAL 🇺🇸5-0🇬🇩
Ferriera grabs his 4th(!!) of the night as Aaronson makes an instant impact off the bench. 5 goals is the most scored by a #USMNT player in a single game, so we are officially on Record Watch!🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/TlvUz4uBjY
— Last Word on Soccer (@LastWordSC) June 11, 2022
Three Thoughts:
About dang time Jesus: A goal had been coming. I’m not sure anyone had a bet on a Jesus Ferreira haul. He’s done good work off the ball in these three games. He’s gotten chances. It was good that he scored. It was great that he did it four times.
This was expected given the opponent: That being said, it was Grenada, on their third game in a week. They’re a small fry in Concacaf. The score line reflected the gap between the two teams. The five goals eventually was fair to the USMNT from a finishing standpoint. We did not learn anything or see measurable performance given the quality of opponent. Grenada had three shot attempts and were not a threat. Good for Ferreira, but every other striker in the pool would have scored.
Questions remain: I’m still not sure how much we’ve learned from this window. Just like in Cincinnati, Matt Turner’s play out of the back was good. Long has looked goal at center back. CCV was fine in this game. Berhalter still has some big decisions to make at goalkeeper, striker, and the center back next to Zimmerman.
