United State of America Under 23’s 4 Bermuda Select 0
Bermuda’s Select Team went down 4 – 0 to host United States of America in their second game of the National Training Centre Invitational in California.
The Invitational is more of a Training Camp for Australia, Chile and the United States of America all using Under 20 players, with Bermuda allowed to use over aged players.
Bermuda: Jahquil Hill, Dakai Grant, Jaylon Bather (Rai Simons – 52nd), Terrance Webb, Mauriq Hill (Oliver Harvey – 61st), Jair Minors (Jaz Ratteray Smith – 52, Chae Brangman - 81st), William White, Willie Clemens, Lejuan Simmons (Jibri Lawrence Salaam – 52nd), Zaire Burchall, Zeiko Lewis (Alanzo Parson - 81) Substitutes Not Used: Detre Bell, Shakeem Albouy, Neildante Smith
The U.S. started off quickly against Bermuda, pressuring from the start and dominating possession for most of the first half. Forwards Andrija Novakovich and Zach Pfeffer were dangerous for the U.S., creating chances early on multiple occasions.
The U.S. broke a scoreless tie in the 27th minute when defender Caleb Smith made his way down the left sideline and fed across the face of the goal, where he found Novakovich alone in front of the goal for the tap in. It was Novakovich’s second goal of the tournament.
Pfeffer converted a penalty kick in the 39th minute to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead after Novakovich was fouled in the box by Bermuda defender Jaylon Bather. Novakovich had the advantage on the defense and was readying himself to shoot as he was taken down, leading to the penalty kick. Pfeffer converted as he placed the ball into the left corner, out of Bermuda goalkeeper Jahquil Hill’s reach.
The U.S. extended the lead to 3-0 in the 45th minute when forward Tommy Thompson, a late addition to the U.S. U-20 MNT roster for this event, took a cross in the middle of the box, dribbled once to his right and fired a shot past Hill and into the right corner of the net.
The second half was comparatively dominant as the U.S. allowed few scoring chances and continued to lead the possession battle. The U-20 MNT picked up its fourth goal in the 85th minute, an own goal, off of a corner kick that ricocheted off the right upright then hit a Bermuda defender and ended up in the back of the net.
The U.S. outshot Bermuda 26-2, including 12 shots on goal, and took 13 corners compared to just three for Bermuda.
Bermuda had its first shot on goal in the 74th minute when Zaire Burchall got behind the U.S. defense and forced U.S. keeper Zack Steffen to come off his line to deflect the shot, which the U.S. defense then booted out of bounds for a Bermuda corner kick.
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