USA Begins 2019 Gold Cup With Strong 4-0 Win Against Guyana

Strikes From Arriola and Zardes Bookend Boyd’s First Career MNT Goal;
Boyd’s First of Two Tallies Marks 1,000th Goal in USMNT History;
USA Next Faces Trinidad & Tobago in Cleveland on June 22 at 8 p.m. ET (FS1, Univision)

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (June 18, 2019) – In front of a sellout crowd of 19,418 fans at Allianz Field, the U.S. Men’s National Team opened its 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup campaign with a 4-0 win against Guyana. Paul Arriola and Gyasi Zardes scored a goal apiece, while Tyler Boyd notched two, the first of which opened his account with the USA and also marked the 1,000th goal in USMNT history.

The USA (1-0-0; 3pts) sits atop Gold Cup Group D with a superior goal difference to Panama (1-0-0; 3pts), which defeated Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 in the day’s earlier game. Group D action now shifts to FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland where Panama will play Guyana and the USA will face Trinidad & Tobago on June 22. Kickoff for the U.S. vs. Trinidad is set for 8 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on FS1 and Univision.

2019 Gold Cup – Group D Standings

	W	L	D	GD	Pts.
USA	1	0	0	4	3
Panama	1	0	0	2	3
Trinidad & Tobago	0	1	0	-2	0
Guyana	0	1	0	-4	0

After a torrid opening that saw the U.S. living in Guyana’s half of the field, the MNT’s pace had just seemed to slow a bit when the USA carved out two big chances around the 25th minute. First, Arriola executed a nice turn in the center of the box to get off a shot that was blocked by a defender before Pulisic was robbed from the middle of the box by a great save from Guyana goalkeeper Akel Clarke.

The USA’s pressure was rewarded in the 28th minute as a flowing team move sprung Arriola open into the left side of the box and the D.C. United attacker smashed a sharp angle shot into the right side netting for a 1-0 lead that the U.S. carried into the break.

Five minutes after retaking the field the USMNT scored goal No. 1,000 in its history. A raking crossfield ball from Michael Bradley was expertly controlled by Boyd, who put a move on his defender and snapped a shot across the box into the lower left corner for his first in a U.S. shirt.

Ten minutes after the restart the USA upped its lead to 3-0 thanks to an Arriola blast that deflected off a defender and then Zardes before billowing the center of the net.

U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter went to his bench just after the hour mark, bringing in Wil Trapp for Bradley and Cristian Roldan for Christian Pulisic. Soon thereafter, Weston McKennie was withdrawn after going down and replaced by Djordje Mihailovic.

Boyd capped off the evening with his second goal in the 81st minute and goalkeeper Zack Steffen made a nice save on Guyana’s sole shot on target to ease the USA across the finish line with the full three points.

Goal Scoring Rundown:

USA – Paul Arriola (Weston McKennie), 28th minute: The USA worked the ball down the left sideline with McKennie drawing wide from his central midfield position to help facilitate possession and he picked out the run of Arriola into the left side of the box. Arriola nipped past a defender to collect the pass before wrapping his foot around the ball to curl it past the goalkeeper from a tight angle into the far right side netting. USA 1, GUY 0 [WATCH]

USA – Tyler Boyd (Michael Bradley), 51st minute: U.S. captain Michael Bradley controlled the ball just inside the Guyana half near the left touchline before driving a cross-field ball onto the foot of Boyd near the top right corner of the box. Boyd took a touch to settle before ripping a shot between a defender’s legs that nestled into the lower left corner for his first career U.S. tally and the 1,000th in USMNT history. USA 2, GUY 0 [WATCH]

USA – Gyasi Zardes, 55th minute: Arriola deftly took down a long cross-field ball and beat a defender inside to rip a shot from the top of the box that hit another defender before deflecting off Zardes, who was smartly stationed at the penalty mark, and dropping into the center of the goal. USA 3, GUY 0 [WATCH]

USA – Tyler Boyd (Paul Arriola), 81st minute: Working down the left side once again, Arriola picked out Boyd near the top left of the box and the USA’s newest addition slipped past a defender to create space for a blast that skimmed off another defender on its way into the right side of the goal. USA 4, GUY 0 [WATCH] FINAL

Additional Notes:

• With the opening strike, Paul Arriola recorded his fourth career goal, second of 2019 and first in Concacaf Gold Cup play. The 24-year-old also added his fourth career assist on Tyler Boyd’s second strike in the 81st minute.

• Providing the final pass on Arriola’s goal in the 28th, Weston McKennie recorded his first career assist for the USMNT.

• Making just his second appearance, winger Tyler Boyd scored his first two international goals. Boyd’s first in the 51st minute was also the 1,000th goal in USMNT history.

• Michael Bradley registered his 23rd career assist on Boyd’s goal, moving him past Cobi Jones into sole possession of second place on the USMNT’s all-time assist list.

• Gyasi Zardes’ 55th minute goal was the eighth of his international career and second of 2019.

• Goalkeeper Zack Steffen combined with the back line to keep his fourth career clean sheet.

• Nine players made their Concacaf Gold Cup debut: Boyd, Lima, Long, Pulisic, McKennie, Mihailovic, Steffen, Trapp and Zimmerman.

• With his 21st cap in the tournament, Michael Bradley moved into a tie for fourth on the USMNT’s Gold Cup appearances list alongside DaMarcus Beasley, Frankie Hejduk and Eric Wynalda.

• Bradley also captained the side for the first time in 2019, and 48th game overall. 

• Long and Zimmerman partnered in central defense for the third time in 2019.

• The match marked the first time that Bradley, McKennie and Pulisic started a match together.

• Arriola made his team-leading seventh appearance of 2019.

• The USMNT moves to 33-1-4 all-time in the Gold Cup Group Stage and 14-0-1 in its opening match at the tournament.

• Minnesota became the 28th state to host a USMNT match (including Washington, D.C.). The team is 11-10-7 all-time in state debut matches.

• The USMNT faced its 98th different international opponent in Guyana. The team is 43-38-17 in its first match against an opponent. 

- U.S. Men’s National Team Match Report -

Match: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Guyana

Date: June 18, 2019

Competition: 2019 Gold Cup

Venue: Allianz Field; St. Paul, Minnesota

Attendance: 19,418 (sellout)

Kickoff: 10 p.m. ET (9 p.m. local time)

Weather: 68 degrees; clear

 

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F

USA                             1          3          4

GUY                            0          0          0

 

USA – Paul Arriola (Weston McKennie)        28th minute

USA – Tyler Boyd (Michael Bradley)             51

USA – Gyasi Zardes                                       56

USA – Tyler Boyd (Paul Arriola)                    81

Lineups:

USA: 1-Zack Steffen; 2-Nick Lima, 5-Walker Zimmerman, 23-Aaron Long, 13-Tim Ream; 4-Michael Bradley (capt.) (6-Wil Trapp, 62); 8-Weston McKennie (20-Djordje Mihailovic, 74), 10-Christian Pulisic (15-Cristian Roldan, 63); 21-Tyler Boyd, 9-Gyasi Zardes, 7-Paul Arriola

Substitutes not used: 12-Sean Johnson, 22-Tyler Miller, 3-Omar Gonzalez, 11-Jordan Morris, 14-Reggie Cannon, 16-Daniel Lovitz, 17-Jozy Altidore, 18-Jonathan Lewis, 19-Matt Miazga

Head coach: Gregg Berhalter

GUY: 1-Akel Clarke; 5-Jordan Dover, 15-Terence Vancooten, 20-Matthew Briggs, 13-Liam Gordon; 4-Elliot Bonds, 16-Neil Danns (capt.) (9-Sheldon Holder, 85); 7-Keanu Marsh-Brown (23-Anthony Jeffrey, 73), 21-Brandon Beresford (8-Samuel Cox, 58), 11-Callum Harriott; 10-Emery Welshman

Substitutes not used: 18-Alex Murray, 22-Quillan Roberts; 8-Samuel Cox, 2-Kevin Layne, 6-Ronayne Marsh-Brown, 3-Daniel Kadell, 19-Stephen Duke-McKenna, 14-Daniel Wilson, 9-Sheldon Holder, 17-Torell Ondaan, 12-Pernell Schultz

Head coach: Michael Johnson 

Stats Summary: USA / GUY

Shots: 20 / 4

Shots on Goal: 6 / 1

Saves: 1 / 2

Corner Kicks: 3 / 4

Fouls: 18 / 7

Offside: 1 / 2

Misconduct Summary:

None 

Officials:

Referee: Ivan Barton (SLV)

Assistant Referee 1: Juan Francisco Zumba (SLV)

Assistant Referee 2: David Jonathan Morgan (SLV)

4th Official: Oshane Anthony Nation (JAM)

 

Budweiser Man of the Match: Tyler Boyd