It wasn't easy for the USMNT against Martinique on Wednesday night at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium. A scoreless first-half led to twp USMNT goals and a Martinique comeback.
The USMNT and Martinique started their Gold Cup group B game knowing that Panama beat Nicaragua to move into 1st-place in the group. Panama came back to win 3-1 in the early game.
"Goal differential is going to be important," USMNT coach Bruce Arena told FS1 prior to the start of the game. "This is a big week for our team. We need to win two games."
Arena went with eight new starters for the second group B game, retaining Brad Guzan in goal. Martinique hit the post in the 39th minute. The USMNT did the same in the 47th. The goals began in the 53rd minute when Omar Gonzalez put in a rebound from a Paul Arriola shot. Jordan Morris doubled the USMNT lead in the 64th with Eric Lichaj assisting. Martinique pulled a goal back two minutes later when Kevin Parsemain scored. Parsemain equalized in the 74th minute. Morris responded for the USMNT, scoring two minutes later.
"The key was never giving up," Gonzalez told FS1. "Obviously, Martinique never gave up. They made it really tough on us.... I think we made it really tough on ourselves. We could've done much better."
The USMNT moves into 1st-place on the goals scored tiebreaker with Panama. Group B concludes on Saturday in Cleveland. Panama vs Martinique is at 4:30pm on FS2 with the USMNT vs Nicaragua at 7pm ET on FSX.
GAME REPORT
Match: U.S. Men's National Team vs. Martinique
Date: July 12, 2017
Competition: 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup; Group B
Venue: Raymond James Stadium; Tampa, Fla.
Kickoff: 9 p.m. ET
Attendance: 23,368
Weather: 77 degrees; mostly cloudy
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 0 3 3
MTQ 0 2 2
USA - Omar Gonzalez 53rd minute
USA - Jordan Morris (Eric Lichaj) 64
MTQ - Kévin Parsemain (Stéphane Abaul) 66
MTQ - Kévin Parsemain (Johan Audel) 74
USA - Jordan Morris (Gyasi Zardes) 76
Lineups:
USA: 1-Brad Guzan; 15-Eric Lichaj, 3-Omar Gonzalez, 21-Matt Hedges, 16-Justin Morrow; 20-Paul Arriola (7-Chris Pontius, 73), 23-Kellyn Acosta (11-Alejandro Bedoya, 62), 17-Cristian Roldan, 9-Gyasi Zardes; 18-Juan Agudelo (13-Dax McCarty, 86), 8-Jordan Morris
Subs not used : 12- Bill Hamid, 22- Sean Johnson , 2- Jorge Villafaña, 4- Matt Miazga, 5- Matt Besler, 6- Kelyn Rowe, 10- Joe Corona, 14- Dom Dwyer, 19- Graham Zusi
Head coach: Bruce Arena
MTQ : 23-Kévin Olimpa; 5-Karl Vitulin, 8-Jordy Delem, 21-Sébastien Cretinoir (capt.), 3-Antoine Jean-Baptiste; 20-Stéphane Abaul, 19-Daniel Herelle (22-Johnny Marajo, 78), 11-Johan Audel; 2-Nicolas Zaire (18-Jean-Manuel Nedra, 56), 17-Kévin Parsemain, 12-Yoann Arquin (10-Steeven Langil, 64)
Subs not used: 1-Emmanuel Vermignon, 4-Florian Narcissot, 6-Djenhael Mainge, 7-Grégory Pastel, 9-Antony Angely, 13-Christof Jougon, 14-Yann Thimon, 15-Gérald Dondon, 16-Loïc Chauvet
Head Coach: Jean-March Civalut
Stats Summary: USA / MTQ
Shots: 8 / 7
Shots on Goal: 3 / 1
Saves: 1 / 3
Corner Kicks: 8 / 1
Fouls: 8 / 5
Offside: 2 / 0
Misconduct Summary:
MTQ - Karl Vitulin (caution) 62nd minute
USA - Justin Morrow (caution) 82
Officials:
Referee: Henry Bejarano (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Fernandez (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Geovany Garcia (SLV)
Fourth Official: Juan Gabriel Calderon (CRC)
