BRADENTON, Fla. (May 9, 2019)—The U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship with a rollicking 8-0 win over Guadeloupe on Thursday night. The USA will now face Panama in the quarterfinals on Sunday, May 12 at 2 p.m. ET (Concacaf Facebook, Univision Deportes). With a win, the USA will earn a berth to the FIFA U-17 World Cup for what would be a record 17th qualification to the tournament.
Despite a weather delay two minutes into the match, the USA came out hot upon the resumption of play, as Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez hammered in the team’s first goal within a minute of returning to the field. The U.S. would find the back of the net six times before the halftime whistle, dominating the run of play as captain Gio Reyna tallied a hat trick in the opening frame. Gianluca Busio added his fourth of the tourney and Griffin Yow netted his third before the break.
Playing with a comfortable lead, the U.S. continued to control the game with an iron fist in the second half, putting in another goal from Ocampo-Chavez and the first of the tournament for Ricardo Pepi. In all, the USA held nearly 80 percent of possession throughout the match, outshooting Guadeloupe 30-5.
Goal Scoring Rundown:
USA – Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Gio Reyna), 3rd minute
Less than a minute after resuming the game, Guadeloupe tried to clear away a U.S. attack and put the ball in the air. Gio Reyna dashed up the left wing to pluck the attempted clearance down and toe it to Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez in the center channel. The Seattle forward met the ball in stride and headed it in for the game’s first goal. USA 1, GLP 0
USA – Griffin Yow (Adam Saldana), 11th minute
Working the ball well around the Guadeloupean final third, Adam Saldana launched a great ball from beyond the 18-yard-line to Griffin Yow on the run up the right wing. Heading towards the end line, Yow stuck his foot up to one-time a cross towards goal, but the ball tucked into the far post past the ‘keeper for Yow’s 10th goal in six U-17 appearances. USA 2, GLP 0
USA – Gio Reyna (Joe Scally), 20th minute
Joe Scally played a beautiful long ball over the top of the defense to Gio Reyna on the move up the left flank. Reyna beat his mark to receive the pass, dribbled in towards the box, took a nice touch to center the ball then cut a hard-rolling shot to the far post. USA 3, GLP 0
USA – Gianluca Busio, 25th minute
Griffin Yow made some shifty moves to dribble in on the right side of the box, driving to the end line and sending a cross in near the goal line. The ‘keeper came out to try to swallow the pass, but the ball spilled out of his attempted collection, and Gianluca Busio was well-positioned to hammer the follow-up shot home for his fourth goal of the tournament. USA 4, GLP 0
USA – Gio Reyna (Griffin Yow), 29th minute
Again enjoying a spell of possession in the Guadeloupe final third, Busio played a ball in the air to Yow at the top of the box. Yow charged to the end line before popping a cross up inside the six-yard box, where Reyna headed it home to the back of the net for his second goal of the game. USA 5, GLP 0
USA – Gio Reyna (penalty), 42nd minute
When Joe Scally drove down the right wing in the 41st minute and attempted to put a cross in, but it caught the hand of a Guadeloupe defender. The referee pointed to the spot and Gio Reyna lined up to take the kick, slotting a ball to the keeper’s left for the USA’s sixth first half goal. USA 6, GLP 0
