The United States men’s national team triumphed 7-1 over Grenada on Friday at Kirani James National Stadium, inspiring interim manager Anthony Hudson to his first competitive win with the American side.
The USMNT dominated from the get-go, opening up the scoring in the fourth minute with a strike by Ricardo Pepi. After failing to make Gregg Berhalter’s roster for the World Cup, Pepi returned to international action with a desire to prove his worth.
And he did just that, doubling his tally in the second half and inspiring two of the seven goals while also playing an integral part of the offensive action throughout the match.
Overall, Pepi and Weston McKennie each scored two goals, while captain Christian Pulisic provided two assists before managing a strike of his own in the second half. Brenden Aaronson and Alejandro Zendejas scored the other two goals to secure the three points and break the team’s nine-game winless streak.
“We came out really strong with a lot of energy and just kind of put them right away,” said Pulisic after the game. “So I think they were kind of surprised by that. Took our goals well and just a great all around performance. Definitely gives us confidence.”
The USMNT now lead Group D in the CONCACAF Nations League with seven points in three games and a record of 2W-0L-1D. The American side only needs a draw against El Salvador in Orlando on Monday to top the group and make the Nations League final four in June.
But despite the triumph, Hudson is taking a cautious approach.
“A performance and a result like this can be – you don’t want to get carried away,” Hudson said after the match.
“The importance for us is just to make sure that we do all the right things between now and the next game and we finish the job off. But the actual performance, I thought it was the result of just a really, really good week.”
The American side will be looking to repeat history in the Nations League, after defeating Mexico 3-2 in 2021 to win the tournament and stand as reigning champions.
Credit: 90min.com
