The United States ended their preparations for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup by crushing Guatemala 4-0 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on Friday night.
A Guatemalan own goal opened the scoring in the first half, and the U.S. added three goals in the second half to seal a victory over the Central American side. Despite the Americans’ heavy advantage on the score sheet, the Guatemalan attack forced USMNT goalkeeper Brad Guzan into three saves.
LA Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez began the match in the starting lineup, going 45 minutes in the win while LA forward Gyasi Zardes came on at the outset of the second half.
U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s group nearly took the lead in the 18th minute when Jozy Altidore was awarded a penalty but the forward saw his attempt saved by Guatemala goalkeeper Paulo Motta. A minute later, the Americans took the lead when a DeAndre Yedlin cross was deflected into the back of the net by defender Carlos Castrillo.
Timothy Chandler doubled the U.S. advantage in the 58th minute when the defender fired a furious blast from beyond 25 yards past Motta.
In the 71st minute, the U.S. found their third when newly named American captain Michael Bradley was brought down by Castrillo. Clint Dempsey stepped up to take the spot kick, and calmly buried it by Motta with a clever chip.
The USMNT completed the rout in the 86th minute when Zardes blazed toward the end line, and then squared it to a waiting Chris Wondolowski. The San Jose Earthquakes striker easily buried his chance from close range to finish off the scoring.
The Americans will now turn their attention to the Gold Cup which they’ll open on Tuesday against Honduras at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
