USMNT faces St. Kitts and Nevis, and it went about how you’d expect

The USMNT did what everyone expected vs. the Sugar Boyz

The U.S. men’s national team may just have gotten back on track.

After opening the Gold Cup with a frustrating draw with Jamaica, the USMNT held an offense vs. defense drill at St. Kitts and Nevis’ expense, taking 33 shots en route to a 6-0 win.

The Sugar Boyz were under siege immediately, blocking multiple shots in the opening seconds. The sluggish play that characterized the early portions of the USMNT’s 1-1 draw with Jamaica was nowhere to be found, and the chances arrived as expected.

The U.S. broke through after just 12 minutes, with Djordje Mihailovic smashing home Gianluca Busio’s cutback.

Fans had barely had time to cheer that goal when the second arrived. A USMNT corner ended up on the edge of the box, where Bryan Reynolds scored a birthday banger, scoring his first international goal in extraordinary fashion on the night he turned 22 years old.

The blitz continued. Some skillful build-up play saw the USMNT slice through the St. Kitts and Nevis defense, with Jesús Ferreira producing a clinical finish. In a span of just three minutes and 50 seconds, the USMNT had gone from a 0-0 scoreline to a three-goal advantage.

Things “slowed down” for the USMNT, who took a whopping nine minutes to strike again. It was Ferreira again, with the FC Dallas forward breaking the Sugar Boyz’s offside trap and calmly shooting past the unfortunate Julanni Archibald.

Interim coach B.J. Callaghan swapped Busio out for Alan Soñora out at halftime, but the USMNT kept going at full speed. Ferreira needed just five minutes coming out of the break to make sure he walked off with a hat trick, converting after Mihailovic picked him out 10 yards from goal.

Ferreira’s hat trick will get plenty of headlines, but don’t forget Mihailovic, who produced two goals and two assists in the rout. His second goal was a gift from Cristian Roldan, who turned down a good-looking chance to hand Mihailovic an empty net in the 80th minute.

A win in their group stage finale on Sunday, where they face Trinidad and Tobago in Charlotte, NC, will likely lock up a spot atop Group A. The goal difference padding gained in St. Louis means that they’ll enter the third round of games in the group with a three-goal edge over Jamaica, who defeated the Soca Warriors 4-1 earlier on Wednesday.

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